Your point is very valid. This is a strangely odd movie for me to watch because on the surface, it has the appearance of a light romantic comedy. But there are lots of problems with this film too. From the writing and some of the behavior of the characters and illogical premises, there is certainly enough to dislike.
Your post has got me to thinking about one more problem with the film.
How was he going to pay for the meatball sub? He just had 2 dollars on him...just enough to pay for the coffee. Who orders a meal, not knowing how much money they are carrying in their wallet?!?
You might say that he planned to used a credit/debit card. Well then, why didn't he? He could have paid for the coffee with a card and included a tip as well. Or just swipe the card for two bucks and give the girl your 2 dollars cash.
To go into even further dark territory, I noticed last night another odd exchange in dialogue.
After seeing his wife's anguish over half of it being given away - the cop comes up with a little game of choice with the waitress which leaves the possibility of him not having to split the jackpot with her at all.
Then when she assumes that he is upset because she made the correct choice in taking half of the winnings, he proclaims "I was hoping you would".
That line alone revealed his desire to take from his wife, and bless this hot blonde he had just met the day before. That right there troubles me.
Muriel was an annoying person, but if you put all that aside...she had a valid point in her assertion that her husband was wrong to give away half of the prize.
Some good points have been raised in other threads. Would he have honored his promise to an old, fat guy. Or to that disgusting restaurant owner?
What if Muriel had done the same thing to her hot gym trainer, or some other hunk she met the day before? Would we think that she had done something noble. like we are supposed to believe the cop did?
Here are just a few more of my pet peeves...
1. The division of the jackpot. No winning ticket gets 9 million while another matching ticket gets 4 million. The whole "bowling team from Albany" was completely unnecessary and a huge gaping plot hole. Why screenwriters/directors and even actors make these kind of idiotic mistakes is beyond me. Why is there no one on the set to say WHOA...when the dialogue is laughably wrong and stupid.
2. The amounts involved (considering that they live in New York City) are way too small to think that they are close to being rich. After taxes, I don't see how she could have bought that NY diner with only about 1.4 million to spend.
3. Giving out subway tokens to strangers is just asking for trouble and is completely self serving and unnecessary.
4. If I went to the store and bought nail polish remover, you better believe I would think I owned it.
5. I hate litter and hated them dropping down all that trash on Central Park.
6. The table for 2 to give away a free meal to the homeless is REALLY naïve and REALLY asking for trouble.
7. The taxi driver scene was awkward. I wonder why they chose to make it a 20 dollar bill instead of a 50 or 100. Surely, the fare would have been close to 20 already. I am not an expert on NY cab fares but I know in SF it might take 12 dollars to go just a few blocks. My guess is that the fare was in the 15-18 range anyway. Nevertheless, poor judgment on her part. She had to know the boat was leaving, yet she chose to miss it over a few lousy dollars.
8. Since the waitress was still married....just as the cop was---I think Eddie Dibiasi got a raw deal. He was just as entitled to some of the winnings as any other the others.
I thought she could have gotten off lightly by sending him on his way for 50k.
9. The scene in the lawyer's office bothers me greatly. The cop quickly agrees to his share of the 2 million to go to his wife (against his lawyer's good advice) but blows up when the wife wants the waitresses money too. The problem here is that nothing had been signed, nor was anything binding. As soon as the wife/attorney went after the waitresses money too, the cop and his lawyer should have reversed their earlier decision to not contest the earlier agreed upon split.
10. This point is related to points 9 as well as an earlier point I made. I don't like how the cop was unwilling to "fight" for his wife's money, but was ready to go to war with his wife, to fight for money he gave a stranger...!!!
11. I found the waitress to be almost as annoying as the wife.
12. Props to another poster who made this suggestion. The cop should have given the waitress 1 million (half of HIS half) and still have kept his word. Why the cop and wife couldn't figure this out is beyond me.
13. I am sure this will get a lot of hate, but I am one of those people that martially separated people have an obligation to behave as though they are still married, rather than act like they are already single again...at least sexually. I object to the cop and waitress sleeping together at the Plaza Hotel. They both had very poor judgment and there are so many examples of it throughout the movie. They certainly opened themselves up for a lot of the negativity that was spotlighted on their relationship that came out in court.
14. The artist's drawing and renderings in court are great (especially showing Muriel's big boobs) but this is only done in Federal court when no cameras are allowed. I doubt this civil proceeding took place and a federal U.S court.
My favorite characters in this movie are Mr.Patel, Jesus and the front desk girl at the Plaza Hotel. That doesn't bode well for a movie considering none of them are major characters in this story.
15. The media throng at the Lotto office is a joke. They act as if this was the announcing of the biggest Powerball lottery in history. This was a state lottery and a run-of-the-mill jackpot. This happens every week.
After proofreading my own post, I have come to the conclusion that I really don't like this movie anymore. This happened once before. I watched a movie that I had previously adored---and started to rethink things. That was Sleepless in Seattle. A completely different movie (and conversation) if the sexes are reversed.
Enough already. Thanks for listening to me.
reply
share