Spoilers.
They were divorcing? I missed how that happened.
I noticed they seemed disconnected from the start - she was interested in her Hepplewhite table and a vacation with her friend, and he was more interested in the younger woman from work. But when he got fired and left his house to be with the younger woman -- that seems to have been the end. But why? Seems a confrontation scene of some sort was missing. Was she only in it for the money?
Good question, as I had the same feeling. They were missing a scene that showed an actual split or even a discussion about it - all we got was a vague depiction that Tommy Lee Jones' character had no connection with his wife. Then all of a sudden we see him in bed with another woman. I wonder if this was a deleted scene?
shareWhen Gene came home after a rough day he stepped into the foyer of his mansion and saw an empty cold house, but lavish with Xmas decorations. He immediately turned round, closed the door behind him, and went to Maria Bello's house. He lived with her for a while, but she probably got tired of him hanging around doing nothing all day. Their relationship petered out and he moved elsewhere.
shareI just watched this movie tonight, and my first impression of his wife was that she would not by sympathetic at all about him losing his job. I'm sure he was aware of that, so instead of facing her, he just left. It's very clear when she asks to use the corporate jet for her Palm Beach weekend, and when he tells her no, she sniffs at him and says that she'll have to fly commercial. I don't think he even wanted to deal with her, there was no communication between them at all.
Debbie
Craig Ferguson, "I know it's lame...it's my job!"
Why a younger women even want to be an out of work dinosaur?
shareSo, that's the message? He cares soooooo much about the fired folks that he starts a new company. But he couldn't lift a finger to save his marriage?
He was already cheating. But let's blame the wife because she only wanted what money can provide. That was an easy way out for the writers. Make his wife look bad, but he is this ethical compassionate leader.
To me that makes us as a society look bad.
Don't get me started. Jeez, I really do not like John Wells. August was okay, but only because the acting. God, this was just terrible, and an embarrassment to dialogue heavy film. It felt like I was watching some Disney movie.
shareI think the writers and director did a generally poor job on this. They never do much to develop the relationship between Tommy Lee Jones and his wife.
Based on the plot, I can only assume that even before the company gets into trouble, that there were some underlying issues in their marriage. Perhaps that’s what led him to cheat on her. We also notice him generally ignoring her anyway at the beginning of the movie.
Of course, he gets worse when the company starts letting people go and he feels very guilty about it. Losing his job himself was just his own personal final straw. Everything he had worked for was gone and he didn’t like his life in general.
As for his wife, she is an obvious socialite who never worked a day in her life much less got her hands dirty. I do love the scene when she asks her husband if she can arrange for a company jet to take her and her friend to Florida for the weekend. She needed a vacation? From what?
A huge thing that the film ignores is that TLJ’s character was quite rich thanks to his stock options once the company was taken over. His wife would have been entitled to half of that in a divorce (assuming that ended up happening) yet he is able to start up his own company.