MovieChat Forums > Flannel Pajamas (2006) Discussion > Nicole really bugged me!

Nicole really bugged me!

posted 17 years ago by rhorhoda
12 replies | jump to latest

I thought this movie, while flawed, was very realistic. The characters and their home seemed very true to life. That truly drew me in and is the main reason I rated this movie quite high (7 out of 10).

I notice a lot of the other comments make Stuart seem like the jerk while Nicole was so great. I rather liked Stuart. He was possessive and jealous but a stronger woman would have been a better counterpart for him than Nicole. I thought Julianne Nicholson played the victim role well, but I was so annoyed with the character of Nicole. She seemed so blah and depressed and wan that the few times she showed any spark or backbone, she came across like a nagging wench.

To me their relationship was codependent from the start and rarely anything else. But I liked Stuart a lot better than Nicole.

I also thought his comments about wanting a baby after Nicole left were pretty unbelievable. He came across as truly "childfree by choice" to me.

[–] ashwin-siva 17 years ago

Just saw the movie and wanted to start the same post....Nicole was really selfish, annoying and irrational...Don't really understand why a lot of people hated Stuart...I really liked the movie since it had good dialogs and never felt bored even though the movie is quite longer compared to the status quo...I believe people despise the film because they basically can't deal with reality...

[–] ashwin-siva 17 years ago

[–] kimbirdy02 17 years ago

I feel the same way. Nicole was a bit spoiled and dramatic in her own quiet way. While Stuart wasn't perfect either, Nicole's personality grated on me.

The film was EXCELLENT and sparked a lot of thought.

However, I'm still confused about how it ended. Was Stuart talking to a Nicole in his head or a Nicole who had returned to his life? I tend to believe that he was talking to the Nicole in his head - the one he idealized.

[–] dboza 17 years ago

Ughh Nicole was so selfish. I liked this movie a lot, I thought it was very realistic. I guess what bugged me about Nicole was she wanted to do what she wanted even if it meant Stuart foot the bill. He took care of everything, from moving her out of that dump apt. to financing her catering business to paying off her school loans. He gave her money, security and an awesome NYC apt. What more does a girl need? Only joking. Seriously, I know women like that and they think they are to receive anything they want, whether or not they contribute any income and when all else fails they decide to try motherhood. Nicole was not willing to support Stuart in his quest to go independent with his work. He was not looking for financial support, but emotional support. Women like Nicole cannot understand that, they are in their own little miserable world and can't part with any energy that might disrupt their own little pity party. That mother of Nicole's what a bitch !

[–] gldrgidr-1 17 years ago

You have to remember who wrote this movie. The writer was Stuart in real life (different name) and he wrote the movie from Stuart's viewpoint. The writer pictured his ex this way. He partly blamed her friend Tess for turning her against him. He demonized her mother beyond belief. He also pictured her entire family as crazy because of her fathers physical abuse - demonizing him too.
He made himself look like the most generous man on the planet and made her look ungrateful, cold, and a little nuts. The only blame he placed on himself was wanting to concentrate on her, and his career for the first two years - no kids. Then at the end he tried to say that if she had just given him a little more time, he would have loved having a family.
This movie was his revenge against his ex and her family, and his way of blameing his wife for the collapse of their marriage.
You have to take everything in this movie with a grain of salt. We are not seeing her side of what happened in this marriage.

[–] canes_1999 17 years ago

Fair point, but frankly, I don't care what happened in the 'real' marriage in the writer's life. It's not supposed to be a documentary, and therefore needn't be burdened by the oft-bland details of real life. Unfortunately, this film is innundated with them.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] seanymphette 15 years ago

Forgive me but I heard Stuart say that his "greatest joy in life was to give to the people he loved". Watch the film again and you'll notice that he insisted on paying for all these things. This is part of a pattern of controlling behavior that is his way of keeping her locked up in that apartment, all to himself, his plaything. They even alluded to it when he turned off the telephones and prevented her from getting a call from her mom, and his dialog about not wanting her to associate with her friends or crazy family. This is called "isolating" a person from their support base. A gilded cage is still a cage my friend. Been there, done that.

[–] denise1234 13 years ago

If someone doesn't like being in a 'gilded cage', don't take the goodies.

Geez.

If a person really wants to pay their own way, short of being held hostage, no one can stop them.

The person who pays naturally has more say. They EARNED the money.

You want more say -- pay your own way.

"I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than..a rude remark or a vulgar action" Blanche DuBois

[–] Warmfire 12 years ago

You want more say -- pay your own way.

Hence, her leaving him. You want to keep someone in a gilded cage? Learn to live without them.

[–] raderpat 8 years ago

I totally agree. She didn't have a problem taking $15,000 from him to pay off her student loan (after knowing him a VERY short time, or his help supporting her and taking his money while she started her doomed catering service.

He may have had his faults, but she struck me as a totally spoiled brat with no personality or backbone.

[–] kenny-164 7 years ago

rader,

Stuart insisted on paying. Watch the scenes again. She went along with him, but it was his idea and his way of controlling her.

Who gets to make the decisions in a marriage is a source of friction, the issue being how much friction it generates in the way it is handled. But one party does not simply get to make all the decisions because of money. That is more like prostitution than a marriage.