I would have left Alice
This character was erratic, selfish, loudmouthed, a terrible mother......The list could go on and on...I do not, in any way, shape or form find Alice's outbursts or point of view at all amusing.
shareInteresting, because I wondered why Alice didn't leave Howard. He took little to no responsibility for his children. Alice supported the family with a full-time job (and a second job as mother) while Howard pittled around with his hobby farm. Howard was completely insensitive to Alice throughout all she went through, offering so little emotion support. He pushed her to go to the meeting at the school when she doesn't want to and doesn't even offer to go with her. She gets snubbed by a co-worker and then cornerned by some investigators and comes home shattered. And instead of offering any kind of real support to his wife, Howard practically forces sex on her, making her physically force him off of her.
I saw very little to admire about Howard as a husband, parent or human being.
I agree with Bootblack987, to a certain extent. As difficult as Alice was- Howard seemed almost child-like and not very present in his family's life. The audience was presented with Howard's spaciness (self-centeredness) in an early scene- Alice is cooking breakfast, taking care of the children, getting ready for work and upon re-entering the kitchen finds their breakfast on fire -her husband sitting 5 feet from the stove, cheerfully eating cereal and seemingly oblivious to the fire. There's no doubt she was blunt and not someone given to much reflection before speaking but she clearly loved her family and supported her husband's dream to be a farmer although it was obvious that he would never be a success.
I understood the necessity to get her going-when he pushed her out of bed-life had to go on but I was appalled when he pushed her to go to that meeting alone and than expected to have sex after the meeting. It was interesting watching him grow as a man when Alice was in jail-he was forced to grow up. His final sign of growth was when he told his mother, calmly but firmly, to stop re-arranging their furniture.