MovieChat Forums > Heartburn (1986) Discussion > How did she figure it out it was Thelma ...

How did she figure it out it was Thelma Rice?


How in the world did she figure out that her husband was seeing her? I must be missing something.

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I think it was just a combination of clues. The journalist friend thought that Thelma was having an affair and splitting up with her husband because of Thelma's husband's interest in real estate. Mark had started spending time away from home on the strange errands, and he made a disparaging remark about Thelma's husband.

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She found receipts for flowers he sent her. The receipts probably had the name of the recipient on them. She refers to the receipts for 'all the expensive flowers you sent her' right after she says 'You're having an affair with Thelma Rice.' (not exact quotes)

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Also, Rachel pieced it together when she was having her hair done in the beauty parlor. The hair stylists were gossiping and something they said struck a chord with Rachel. That's why she left the shop with her hair undone and checked all of Mark's files, which of confirmed what she suspected. I.E. all the receipts for the flowers that Mark bought for Thelma. If I recall, in the scene where Rachel confronts Mark about his affair, she basically says to him that it was bad enough that he bought flowers for the mistress but that he also charged everything and spent money on hotels etc. Hence, he was not being very discreet at all.

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Don’t forget that his list of “who he was”, I think he had journalist as 1, and “in love” as 2.

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Yeah, he had said "married, in love" two separate descriptions of himself which was him saying he was married but in love with someone else. Sad.

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You're not alone in feeling like you missed something - we never see a relationship develop between Mark and Rachel, either. Nor is their any real explanation for the behavior of Rachel's father - the audience is just expected to fill in too many blanks here.

"Somewhere along the line the world has lost all of its standards and all of its taste."

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You're not alone in feeling like you missed something - we never see a relationship develop between Mark and Rachel, either. Nor is their any real explanation for the behavior of Rachel's father - the audience is just expected to fill in too many blanks here.


Maybe some people think too much.
The story is told from the woman's point of view, so how could we see scenes beteween Mark and Thelma?
Rachel wasn't there with them, so that's why we don't see these scenes.

Second, why does there have to be an explanation why Rachel's father is the way he is? I enjoy her father a lot every time I watch this movie.

Don't try to fill in too many things, just watch this movie and enjoy it.
It's an easy movie, allthough it's a break up movie, to me it's a feel good movie (maybe because I've been on cheated on more than once and in some way it gives me strength), these movies aren't meant to made you think too much about why the characters are the way they are.

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I do agree with Harold Robbins. It has been a while since I have watched HEARTBURN but if I recall, some of the early scenes are hastened. In other words, we see that Rachel and Mark meet at a mutual friend's wedding. Then they are talking at the reception and then next scene, they are going out on the town. Rachel claims she never wants to be married again as she has recently been divorced but then, it's like next thing you know, she and Mark marry. The wedding itself is strange because of how she does not seem to want to marry Mark as she stays in her room for a very long time. Yes, people get nervous when it comes to marriage but the whole thing seemed abnormal. True, one can't put everything in a movie but the beginning seemed so rushed. And then, when Rachel finds out that Mark is cheating on her and leaves him the first time, the father is acting strange by telling him she should "share her children." Perhaps, the father had had a bunch of affairs over the years. We are never told that. All we know is that Rachel's Mom had died. Anyway, when it comes to HEARTBURN, I would agree with Harold Robbins that we never really see the relationship between Rachel and Mark developed. I.E. What did she decide to marry him. Sure, he was charming when they first met but then, why was she so quick to marry when she seemed so against wanting to marry again? When thinking about the movie, these were questions that entered my head.

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Agree with all of this. I am watching for the first time, and even though I knew that Jack's character was cheating, I was trying to figure out how Rachel knew. The dots never connected. If the "we still care about Bangladesh"line was it...well that didn't work b/c it was a joke that the entire table got. So yeah, this movie is missing something.

I was also surprised at how fast they got married. In the beginning, when Rachel had the convos at the wedding about Mark (with the two guests about his singlehood), I didn't get the impression that he was a cheater, just a ladies man (a la George Clooney). I believe even War of the Roses developed the husband/wife relationship before they got married. So that was a dropped ball.

There are questions that signify that you're overanalyzing, and then there are questions that are unanswered b/c the story isn't well-developed. This movie had too many of the latter.

Brad:You stabbed me,dude!
Max:I stabbed you,dude!

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[deleted]

Nena902 - well said. That scene actually creeped me out a little. Why would that be the first thing a father says to a daughter on such an occasion?

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