D’oh! Yes. That’s the movie alright.
I suppose you’re right about just deserts and all. Still, I felt empathy in that he made one mistake and ended up with a shit load more than he anticipated.
Well, I didn’t mean to imply that I believed Glenn Close’s actions were justified in Fatal Attraction. Just that the infidelity itself was not particularly sympathetic since Michael Douglas’ marriage was, by all accounts, a happy one.
I was just reminded of this one when his wife was mention in the “Movie Characters you Really Hate” thread: Daniel Stearn in City Slickers.
I think “Brokeback Mountain” is the ultimate example of sympathetic cheating. I’m usually very down on cheating in movies, no matter how romantic they try to make it, but in BBM, they actually managed to portray the marriages that happened after the real romance between the two men started as the cheating.
The first one I thought of was Dr. Zhivago.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the movie but another ironic point is Matthau’s character is married to a sexy blonde who is way out his league.
Another set of not-quite married characters would be the leads in “An Affair to Remember.” Which is claimed by some to be one of the most romantic films of all time.
“Same Time Next Year” is a nice little movie with Alan Alda in which he maintains a 25 year affair with a woman he sees once a year. I think they are both sympathetic, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen it.
Say, I just noticed that the wrong URL got stuck in there. While interesting, it has nothing to do weith infidelity. Here’s the page for a Guide to the Married Man:
Isn’t there a new Farrelly Brothers movie with Ben Stiller where he gets married and then meets some woman? I haven’t seen it, but the commercials make it seem like he is supposed to be a sympathetic character.
In The Departed, Leonardo DiCaprio hooks up with Matt Damon’s wife. We’re supposed to sympathize for Leo and Vera Fermiga in the situation.
Yes, but they make a point of breaking up with their intendeds & getting their separate acts together before continuing the relationship. “Not quite married” is not the same as Married.
An Affair to Remember was a remake of Love Affair, starring Charles Boyer & Irene Dunne. I find the original film less saccharine.
The Heartbreak Kid? From the commercials, I’m getting the sense that he meets a woman (Cameron Diaz), I’m not sure if he marries her but he doesn’t realize how awful she really is. I didn’t know he then cheated on her, though…
Agreed. I wouldn’t have mentioned the film, except that other not-quite-married relationships, such as Rose’s from Titanic are being accepted.
A Walk on the Moon and The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover
Good one. I don’t think anyone was feeling bad for the cuckolded thief in this one.
How about the John Cleese character in A Fish Called Wanda? His marriage is portrayed as loveless and his wife is such an unpleasant harpy it makes him sympathetic.
With respect to Fatal Attraction it always seemed to me the movie was trying to make some point with the fact that Michael Douglas is the married guy that commits infidelity but he comes through relatively unscathed. Instead it is the female characters (his wife, his daughter, and Glenn Close) who pay the price to various degrees.
How about Election? Matthew Broderick’s character attempts to cheat on his wife with the neighbor (his best friend’s wife). It’s a despicable action, but he is the character we’re meant to ID with. (Well, Tracey, too, to some degree.) Plus, considering all the stuff that happens to him afterwards, you feel a lot worse for him. At least, that’s how I felt when I first saw it.
I don’t think we were supposed to feel too sympathetic to him. In fact, I think the attempted adultery is Payne’s way of letting us know that it’s not simply a nice liberal schoolteacher against an annoying high school Machiavelli. Everyone has an agenda.
It’s one of my favorite movies, if only for Tammy’s speech.
I enjoyed it, too. Maybe it’s because I was an overly romanticized high school student with a serious crush on Matthew Broderick at the time, but I was really rooting for him. (I’m aware that sneaking off after school to a motel room and trying to rig votes for a high school election are hardly the actions of a romantic hero. I was a twisted child.)
I just keep thinking of the part when Linda (that was the name of the woman he was going after, right?) turned him down, telling him he’d taken advantage of her when she was just as interested. That made me sympathize with him–it really felt like it was him against the whole world.