Why is it all Sam's fault?

I suppose you can deduct something from Sam's reaction after he finds out. He rushes over to her and kisses her. That implies that he sees the whole thing as his fault for being a unsatisfactory partner, which in turn will excuse her feelings for wanting someone else. Another important thing is that she doesn't go through with it, she breaks it up and leaves instantly because she loves her husband. She did the right thing after a moment of weakness.

I have not seen the film yet, but did read the book and the book as very much just the diaries of the two primaries. Very early on when the using the writing in the diary was discussed (afterall Sam was supposed to be a writer but was suffering from terminal writers block) the concept of using the feelings from the diary as a basis for a book was seen as the biggest possible betrayal possible.

In the book Sam is using his diary to create a script for a film. It lacked a female voice so he used her diary and just kept on trucking.

In that context the level of betrayal was far beyond that if a meal out.

I am going to try and find the film and will comment further after watching, I never even looked for this to be made into a film as the whole diary thing seemed to be a little hard to work into something that would truly work in film, I am interested to see how they pulled it off.

I am sure that as for most books the film will be a disappointment, though the casting intrigues me...

Well, I've seen 30 minutes of the movie so far, but I would say that guy Carl is the biggest *beep* alive. And of course Sam is not at fault. It was his wife who at one point only wanted to have sex if there was a chance to get pregnant.

The fact is it isn't all Sam's fault Lucy is as much to blame as anyone because they both not looking at the fact that they are too focused on getting pregnant to stop their marriage going under. So it is both of their faults.

Having seen the film and read the book, while Elton did well to keep fantastically well to the original plot, there were a few losses.
The main loss in transition to film, i felt, was that it lost a lot of the personal touches and personalities of the characters.
The book is made of Sam and Lucy's diary entries. Because of this, its much clearer to see that sam feels unbelievably guilty for 'stealing Lucy's thoughts'
Theres a lot more resentment between the two characters aswell with Lucy feeling bitter that sam doesnt share her vision or understand her suffering (she goes on about this a lot. Elton definitely makes us a fell less sympathetic than we should) and Sam resenting the affair and her not understanding his suffering at work.
all in all, a lot of Lucy's guilt is lost in the book to film transfer but the fact that viewers noticed without Elton needing to force the issue, i suppose is something.
:] Just for the records - its definitely worth reading the book if you havent already. Definitely funnier than the films! :]

I think that Lucy offered a bit of self-restraint despite the cheating because she stopped short of having sex, if I remember correctly. Sam, on the other hand, not only made a movie of her suffering after she'd asked that he didn't, but he also used her diary to support it.

I agree with your original post, rabbitonthemoon. It does feel as though they completely gloss over Lucy's infidelity in the grand scheme of things. Sure, Sam screwed up but she wasn't exactly innocent herself, as you pointed out. I remember the first time I saw it, I was so pissed that she ended up getting pregnant (or so she thought) by Carl when she and Sam couldn't manage it no matter what they tried. I'm glad they changed it in the end so that she wasn't actually pregnant with another man's child. I must say though, it was a huge man-up for Sam to offer to raise a child that did not belong to him. That's what finally made her realize how in love with her he still was. I have to say though, I was on Sam's side for most of the film...and I'm a woman.

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