MovieChat Forums > Love Liza (2003) Discussion > Regarding the Mother ***SPOILERS***

Regarding the Mother SPOILERS

posted 18 years ago by mhopkins4
9 replies | jump to latest

So after watching the movie I just couldn't help by feel that Liza's mother totally screwed Wilson over super bad.

The way I see it is this. Ok so he finds out that his wife left him this letter and he agonizes over it for some time (while huffing gas) and keeps it in the silverware drawer and then when travelling keeps it on his person.

After running around with Denny being crazy and high he comes back home and seems to settle. Gets clean, applies for the job.

It is then that (we don't know it yet) but all of his stuff get stolen, including the letter, at which point he re-lapses hard into the gas huffing, alienating Denny as well as coming very close to trouble with the law (the huffing kids) and loses his prospective job. Later we find out, the mother is the one who stole everything with what seems to be the intention of reading the letter for more insight into why her daughter killed herself but she just didn't have the stones to actually open it.

With the way Denny kept bugging Wilson about it I think Wilson was jsut about at the point of opening the letter while being clean.

So essentially I think the mother screwed Wilson over very badly by stealing his stuff and causing him to relapse just as he was getting back on feet, getting clean, and just about to open the letter.

[–] murrayr16 18 years ago

I couldn't agree with you more. She had absolutely no right to do such a thing to a man painfully mourning over the loss of his wife. I understood his pain of not being able to open the letter; I feel a lot of people would, including myself. If it wasn't for her being so nosey, he wouldn't have gotten so screwed up.

[–] ignominia-1 18 years ago

But we would not have half of the movie without the mother/son in law conflict don't you think? Also, the mother needed reasons, maybe thought the letter would blame him for something. She felt resentful of him having had her and in her mind maybe, having been the reason why she killed herself. Who knows? but the fact is that the movie runs on his emotional struggle with the letter and its implications, and the mother in law is just a reminder of his responsibilities and the fact that in the end he is redeemed from any accusation and direct relation to her suicide, allowing him to burn the place down and start again, well that is a neat way to end the story.

[–] shaas-1 18 years ago

Start again? I thought he was dead, and that was his soul walking half naked down the highway. If he were visible to the drivers of the cars, they would've reacted to his presence.

[–] tlroberts71 18 years ago

He didn't die,LOL there was a match in the envelope. His clothes were full of gas and he had to ditch them or he would have died.

[–] DoubleDareYa 18 years ago

I really like the purification aspect as he leaves the house to burn, but the last shot is a bit confusing. Thematic endings always seem like a copout unless they make sense on planet earth too.

[–] Is_It_My_Scar 17 years ago

Yes, I agree with the purification process. Solid Gold.

And no, Wilson did not die even though his underwear more than likely smell like death. LOL

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] GuyOnTheLeft 10 years ago

Yeah, she definitely screwed him. The scene when his new boss comes in and talks about getting someone to come pick up the computers was the one part of the movie I found really wrenching.

But so: I understand why she took the letter, but why take everything else?

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[–] thepartydjz 9 years ago

Dolores Claiborne will do these types of things