MovieChat Forums > Breakdown (1997) Discussion > How Could Red's Wife Not Have Had ANY Id...

How Could Red's Wife Not Have Had ANY Idea What Was Going On?

posted 12 years ago by sas6789
14 replies | jump to latest

I mean we are clearly meant to believe that she is totally clueless about her husband's true colours, but i mean their house had guns all over the place, the barn was full of criminal evidence, and she must have been in the barn at some point, and also the fact that he teached his young son to use a gun in case she needs to be "protected" then he even encouraged him to kill Jeff in front of her, those things just arn't normal. She clearly didn't know the whole story but given all those things i just find it hard to believe she wasn't the slightest bit suspicious, maybe she was but was too scared to question or leave him?

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] JudeDeveraux 12 years ago

The "actress" is Gary Sinise's wife....

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] JudeDeveraux 12 years ago

Not Kathleen no.

JT's wife was played by Moira Sinise http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0365128/

I loved JT too...he was the reason I went to see the movie. I remember reading about his death in the paper and was shocked...a heart attack while on vacation.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] SteveH2002 11 years ago

I think the wife was aware of what her husband was up to, and for whatever reason didn't oppose it. When Ken Russell comes into the kitchen the wife's 'what's going on?' is real. Why is this stranger pointing a gun at us in our home? I don't know if she was aware of the details of the husband's activities, so it's possible she was truly surprised when she opened the freezer.

The teaching the son to use guns at a young age like that is, imo, plausible. They live in the southwest United States, where the pro-gun culture is strongest. Using a gun to protect yourself against an intruder isn't at all uncommon.

So, I think she knew, or at least strongly suspected, what her husband was up to, although it's just as likely she didn't know the details.

[–] manram24 11 years ago

Nothing wrong with teaching your kid to protect yourself with a gun and I don't think the wife knew anything, she seemed to be in shock.

Y'know, I could eat a peach for hours

[–] buddyboy28 10 years ago

I think the wife was aware of what her husband was up to

No she wasn't. If she was, the filmmakers wouldn't have made a point of showing JT Walsh's character hiding everything from her, or showing her confused reaction to Kurt Russell's statements about his wife, or showing her genuine shocked reaction upon discovering the wife.

My life fades... the vision dims... all that remains are memories

[–] riverwalk 11 years ago

the wife was quite morally ambiguous, whilst it seemed she was unaware of her husband's activities I still find her as guilty as her husband when she demanded her son shoot kurt Russell in the kitchen scene. After all, Kurt Russell was quite civil before the son entered, he did not open fire and was going in peace and just demanded his wife be set free. So the wife should have known her husband was involved in something dodgy and there was truth in what kr said. If anything she should have told every1 to hold their fire and demand her husband go to the barren and check for Russell's wife.

[–] wildbill8276 9 years ago

the wife was quite morally ambiguous, whilst it seemed she was unaware of her husband's activities I still find her as guilty as her husband when she demanded her son shoot kurt Russell in the kitchen scene. After all, Kurt Russell was quite civil before the son entered, he did not open fire and was going in peace and just demanded his wife be set free.

Ya, when there's an armed man you've never seen before standing in your kitchen at 6 AM pointing a gun at you, your husband and his friends, at your isolated home in the middle of nowhere, you're absolutely evil to tell your son to protect himself and his family. People should really wait for armed strangers to kill at least one person first, since they might be "going in peace" with hostages. Essentially that's what he did, she had no idea what her husband was involved in, and as far as she was concerned there was a crazy man taking them all hostage.

So no, she's not morally ambiguous to tell her son to shoot an armed intruder in their home. And it has nothing to do with your morals that you find something wrong with that, it's just that you're a bitch.

[–] Captain_Wesker 8 years ago

She was absolutely in the wrong. What she SHOULD have done is start by asking her husband if he knows what the hell an armed intruder is talking about.

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It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing .

[–] HikerBoy57 9 years ago

Have you seen BREAKING BAD? Red Barr is the proto-Walter White.

The war is not meant to be won... it is meant to be continuous.

[–] csteve67 9 years ago

Add Mrs. Carmella "Tony" Soprano to that list. Many spouses know or have an idea what evil their spouses do, yet decided the love or desire or fear allows it to continue.

"Vive la mort, vive la guerre, vive le sacre mercenaire."