what a cold hearted b itch! abandon your family, disappear for 2 years, and then come back and say "ok im ready to be a mother again", and then get away with it too?! god, i just wanted to kill her!! poor dustin hoffman... lost his wife, lost his job, then the icing on the cake, lost his custody battle, and almost lost his kid... what a depressing movie this was... great movie, but depressing...
shareNo, I didn't want to at all.
Poor father ! He didn't know what grade his son was for God's sake. Is that responsible ?! Does making a living let you neglect a child like that ?! Would that kid grow out to be emotionally and psychologically stable with basically one parent doing everything including the talking and all the emotional stuff ?!
For the mother, she was unhappy and unsatisfied for more than 5 years and she tried to do everything she could. She was a great mother for more than 5 years, as her son loves her so much and keeps remembering every detail of their life together. Being that troubled, she finally decided to solve it out so she left with no knowledge of how she's going to live her life, so, would taking a child with you, when you have no clue what you're doing with your life, responsible ?
This movie was made to let you see the whole story, and to let you sympathize with both, because one was essentially a great loving parent, and the other grew out to be a great loving parent too. Please, stop viewing people as if we're all black and white, or as if one's an angel between sinners.
Even though this is fictional characters we're talking about- you're a bit much
Every sin is an escape from emptiness.
I felt the exact same way. I was so angry during the entire trial. Saying that though, I'm glad Joanna let Ted keep Billy, as he had obviously tried his best to become a better father when Joanna abandoned the kid. It's tough though because they obviously both loved him. I think it's hard, because 99% of the movie is from Ted's perspective, so of course we're going to side with Ted over Joanna. We don't really see Ted's neglect/bad parenting as much as we note Joanna's absence.
shareIt was devastating that she was able to take Billy after abandoning him in the first place... with a man she was afraid of. What a sh!t mother. But, that's how the court handles custody matters. Mothers on a whole get the child by default and then, the fathers gets completely fcked with outrageous child custody payments. That's why Dustin's speech where he says, "Where does it say that a woman is a better parent by virtue of her sex?" is so awesome.
shareI really like this movie. I don't like Joanne character.
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