Divorce; American Style
David Grieff: Well now, to the property settlement. I've prepared a list here of major items of community property with some suggestions as to how they may be distributed amongst the parties.
Richard Harmon: [looking at the list]
Seems to be fair. Split right down the middle. The house to Barbara; the mortgage payments to me. The furnishings, colour TV and piano to Barbara; the monthly payments to me. The insurance benefits to Barbara; the premiums to me. The uranium in our uranium mine to Barbara...
David Grieff: Uranium mine?
Richard Harmon: And the shaft to me!
Written by the Seventies Sitcom/Spin-Off King, Norman Lear, this satire that hits home a little TOO accurately, reminds me of some of the more serious scenarios that Lear had inserted into such TV shows as
All in The Family when discussing some very important issues of the time without sugar coating them. Like when he introduced a transvestite character who was a good friend of Edith, who, later, would be beaten to death because of being "different". I remember the touching moment of Edith's heartbreak of being unable to understand why such a beautiful soul would be so brutalized.
We see this here. The harshness of the situation taking the wind out of the comedic endeavors nearly every time.
Except for one, for me.
The ending, as the Harmons walk into their home, having decided to reconcile and be together again. Their boys, upstairs, hear them over the heating vent as they start to argue. Both kids smile. It's a home again and mom and dad are arguing again.
Such a realistic view of two people in a long term relationship put a smile on my face and i appreciated the ending all the more for it.
I also noticed a lot of scenes were chock full of subtleties displaying such detailed emotions on everyone's faces. It made the opening of the Conductor standing on the top of the hill and conducting, not merely the opening music/operatic actions of the couples bickering, but of the entire film's actions and scenarios. The cast is the symphony and each instrument's nuance is vital and expressed to further the overall music.
As I said, this satire hits home TOO accurately upon a very tender vein and while it attempts to show the foolishness of it and of the way divorce is handled, the indifference of divorce lawyers more interested in playing golf with one another, and divorcees who seek out marriage just to stop alimony payments and the messed up circle that all of it is; I felt more sympathy and pity for the characters than amusement.
Still, a well conducted satire and worthwhile film.
Reply to Topic
