I was under the impression that the main characters in this movie were POOR; i.e. no heat in their apartment. How can they not afford to live comfortably in their present locale, but travel all over North America buying strollers and all sorts of other things?!? And out of the blue they have a house on the beach probably worth millions? DID I MISS SOMETHING? WAS I NOT LED TO BELIEVE THAT THEY WERE PENNILESS????? WEREN'T THEY *beep* UPS?
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I wondered how they afforded the travel too.
Eat healthy, keep fit. Then die anyway.
The house that you're talking about that "cost millions" was Verona's parent's house. They didn't have to pay for it. Verona looked like an artist for medical books, which i'm sure pays decent money, and Burt sells life insurance to insurance companies, probably making enough to live up to normal standards. They most likely just bought a house with out heat and thought nothing of it cause it wasn't winter.
shareHaving money and being able to manage that money effectively are very different things. They both worked and clearly made money; they probably were just irresponsible about paying bills. They were then more than willing to blow thousands of dollars on a crazy cross-country quest -- rather than move into an apartment and pay bills on time -- because that's something that irresponsible people would do. And the house at the end was clearly already paid for, and there was the indication that both of their families had money.
shareThe whole plot is built around them sitting on a couch, with a space heater, asking themselves if they are f'ups. You can offer explainations to why they were doing it, but I would think that it would be explained in the film. I guess I got my answer, there isn't one. You can guess all you want about how they couldn't afford heat, yet can go where ever they want and spend whatever they want, but that should be explained in the film.
Through out the beginning of this movie they gave the impression that they had nothing and needed to start being responible and make a life for themselves. That doesn't coinside with what they were doing; running around the country.
my opinion is the plot has many HOLES in it. I was left shaking my head wondering what the heck this whole movie was even about.
Their friends may have paid for their travel, expect for Burt's brother in Miami.
"Mistakes make exceptional possible.... Sometimes the wrong path leads to the right path."
The whole point of the movie was that they are children. They purposely admit they don't live like adults. They could own a better house and could replace the window, but they don't because they personally don't care.
Both Burt and Verona have well paying jobs, they could probably afford the travel as well. Trains are cheap, they stay with friends/family twice, and the hotels they do stay at are for one day and look cheap.
It can be done.
I didn't think they were poor - I just think they were the type of people who just don't spend money extravagantly. Granted they obviously weren't rich - but I know a lot of people that make pretty good money and kind of live in same conditions - because it doesn't matter too much to them.
shareNowhere in the movie did it say that they didn't pay their electrical bill (or any other type of bill). They lived in a crappy house in the middle of nowhere with bad wiring and poor heating. When you want to live in the middle of nowhere you accept that the housing options are going to be limited and you'll have to settle. That's not unusual.
The lights went off because the ancient heater they were using blew a fuse. We know the wiring is bad because apparently the fuses are always blowing. Remember Burt talking about how he wanted to buy a red fuse because the blue ones kept blowing and the guy at the store convinced him to buy yet another blue fuse?
Oh, the fact that they're using a space heater is also not an indication that they were poor. When you live in a cold climate, you use space heaters. I've lived in some pretty great condo buildings and I've used space heaters.
I don't think their living situation was an indication that they were irresponsible or that they couldn't manage money. I think it was just because they had different priorities. They had a cardboard window not because they couldn't afford to fix it, but because they didn't place much importance on fixing it. The movie is about them figuring out that maybe it's time to fix the window. Maybe it's time to stop living like students and settle down someplace.
We know that Verona is very good at what she does and left a corporate job to go freelance. We're told that. Someone who doesn't know how to manage money wouldn't leave a steady paycheque to work for herself. And didn't Burt say he was responsible for accounts worth millions of dollars. You don't just get a job like that, you earn it.
How could they afford to travel like this? Because they spend way less than they earn. I doubt this was a conscience decision on their part, I think it was just who they were. They didn't strike me as people who wanted the latest gadget or car. They struck me as people who felt they didn't need much. And when you don't need anything, think of how much less you spend.
adam, I totally agree. I believe you described the situation pretty well. Anyone else writing they cannot afford the trip missed the point, and at the end of the day didn't also listen carefully to the dialog.
shareI never got the impression that they were "POOR" just that they never really stepped back and looked at their situation and compared it with their family/friends. They were probably happy and fine with the way they lived but it wasnt until she started "nesting" (happens during pregnancy) that she really realized that maybe they needed to do alot more to prepare for their child and that they hadnt done enough up to that point. They obviously had electricity but it seemed their house had maybe some wiring or heating problems.
shareI make plenty of money but I don't run my heaters all the time. And they did have a heater, a space heater, but it broke. And they didn't have an apartment but what looked like a mobile home in the middle of nowhere.
Point is, they easily could have had money but just lived in a temporary house. Remember, they said they only moved there to be close to Burt's parents, so I got the impression it was recent.
Maybe Verona received an inheritance after her folks passed away.
Weren't Verona and her sister talking about selling that house when they were sitting in the bathtub? Also implying that they already owned it?
sharemy guess is also that verona may have received some sort of inheritance. guessing from the fact that her parents had a house on the beach or some sort of lake, they must have made decent money. plus, yes, they were talking about the fact that had inherited the house.
as someone else said, they're not really extravagant types... i guess they'd just rather save their money than spend it on material possessions, their home, etc. they seem rather simple.
on top of that, burt must make okay money dealing with insurance while verona must make pretty good money being a medical illustrator. (usually, medical illustrators make the most out of every other type of freelance illustrator— i'm guessing if she's hired on a regular basis, she'd probably be making around $70k+ per year.)
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"help me kill my time
cos i'll never be fine."
All your ideas make sense...but look at the facts, we are left guessing to answer one of the central themes of the movie. To play the devil's advocate, IF they did have money, why would the film makes portray them as living in a broken down, condemnable, trailer? I just can't see that as being a mute point in the plot. If it really isn't central then why give the audience that view of the couple? Why not hype up the "moving close to parents" part of the story? This feed has gotten enough contributors for me to say I'm not alone in my opinion. I don't think the film makers did their job.
FYI, trains aren't that cheap. And last minute plan tickets across north america? probably a couple grand if not more. AND a stroller, rental cars, hotels? what about food? gas? they blew 5k easy, that's a low ball.
They're house in the beginning was a POS, but I didn't for a second think they had money problems. They both have decent jobs.
Also, you think it doesn't make sense them traveling all over the country because they have no money. I think they can travel all over the country because they have money. Apparently I am closer to right than you are, because they travelled all over the country with no problem.
You mention them buying the last minute tickets to see his brother and ask where the money came from. My answer is, "Their bank account." He seemed to be good at his job. Someone asked if he was relying on the job interview he had with the other company and he said "No, we're doing fine." or words to that effect.
I never got the impression money was tight for them. They just lived in a crappy trailer for some reason.
"What the f-ck is the internet?" -Jay, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back
Also, it didn't look like they were spending too much money in the cities they wound up in; they all had friends and family to treat them in various ways, despite some slightly messy endings.
shareWho cares? Rich, poor, whatever. If you want to do something, you'll find away. A plane ticket is not THAT much money. Maybe they caught a Southwest DING! special for Phoenix - only $129 round trip. One time I flew to Chicago for only $29!!! Maybe he travels for work and used some of his air miles. Maybe they sold some video games on eBay. Maybe his parents or her sister paid for the tickets. Maybe the were test subject in a 6 night clinical trial and earned some extra cash to pay for the flight. MAYBE they charged everything to their VISA. Maybe they have a relative who works for Delta and got them a discount. Maybe the stole the money. Maybe, just maybe, they have an emergency fund and decided this was an emergency and used that cash. Seriously, someone buying a plane ticket is NOT that hard to believe, even if they are poor. It's not like they were homeless, it's not like they were unemployed.
shareLOL Kanadka
shareTheir home could have been his parents first home before they moved. His parents seemed very well off, 12 thousand dollars for that crap his dad bought! They coulda easily kept their first house for sentimental reasons. That's just one of endless possibilities. The outlay for travel was clearly deemed to be worth it as they were making a massive life altering decision on where to base their family. They did alot of trips at the same time which would save money, and one was a job interview where Burt would earn more.
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Has nobody on this thread heard of credit cards? Even with limited income, if they had good credit, they could easily have put this entire trip on credit cards and paid it off later.
The war is not meant to be won... it is meant to be continuous.
They certainly weren't supposed to be so poor they can't take this trip. I don't get the complaint/confusion at all.
They both had jobs and had no kids yet. Nor any clear indications of financial catastrophe or hardship or issues that would blow money like, i dunno, gambling addiction...
Taking a $5k trip (which is a highball, not a lowball figure) would be trivial for anybody who is self-employed like they are.
One...because they are clearly not materialistic...they could easily have 5k in savings. Obviously...the answer to "how could they afford such a trip" is clearly because they don't put their disposable income into new houses and cars...
Two...slam dunk that if they wanted a 5k Visa credit limit, they have it. She's a freelance technical artist, he sells security futures. They have a middle class income.
They way they choose to live was supposed to signify: they were not ready to be parents; they needed to find themselves to get ready for the next phase. Grow up. Find their real home. Mature. Become more self-aware. Not make more money.
Also...their pre-movie lifestyle is about their priority was their relationship. They are into themselves/their life together. Not Pottery Barn. They seem to be the sort of couple that would live in cheap house so that they could spend lots of time together and take trips and do nonlucrative stuff like cobble (whittle).
Also...they paid their bills. The point of the heater scene was explicated by Burt's long "fuse" diatribe. This wasn't the power being turned off. This was Burt choosing the wrong fuse. This was really Burt causing a problem by taking the advice of others and thus screwing up his home. Thus, making him feel like a screw up that couldn't yet be a good dad and all that...so he needed to start listening to his own instincts to fix it etc.
I have a very good answer for this question:
It's a crappy movie. That's all you need to know.
There is (much) more wrong with this movie than there is right. It's pointless to wonder why anything because there is no reason. See, if this was a movie that made any sort of sense I might wonder how A PREGNANT WOMAN SLEPT ALL NIGHT ON A TRAMPOLINE AND HER BACK DIDN'T HURT THE NEXT DAY. Not to mention that it was OUTSIDE. In FLORIDA. And her naturally curly hair didn't look like Bride of Frankenstein when she woke up. But see? This is a bad movie, so I know it is pointless to wonder about all those questions because there is no answer.
"There's no such thing as an original sin."
It's still not nonsense or difficult to figure that a salesman and technical artist could somehow figure out how to put a low four-figure road trip on a credit card.
i agree low four figure road trip. like 1.5-3k trip. The plane ticket from Arizona to Montreal... then The plane ticket from Montreal to Miami. Those tickets alone probably costed like a good portion of that money. They only checked into like 3 or 4 hotels/motels throughout the movie. Majority of the places they visited gave them lodging IE most of there friends.
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