An excerpt from my script review for Long Shot which will be available 05/06/19:
2.) Plot Stability
The Seven Year Itch is a real phenomenon.
Sure it might not be right at seven years to the day, or even in the seventh year of a relationship, but things do happen and people slip up.
Relationships are fun, sexy, but lasting ones also require “work” in so much that there will be issues that require patience and understanding.
Old will never be as exciting as new.
Getting personal for a second, the boss and I both had our own run-ins a few years back.
She met someone online around the same time we were looking at a property down in Florida.
The realtor, whether having her own issues, just wanting to make a sale, or genuinely interested, was attractive, successful, and flirty with yours truly. Things progressed further than they should have, and although there was talk of adultery we never progressed into anything physical.
Not that I’m so much a noble person, but a practical one and I explained to her things really couldn’t work out, since I wouldn’t leave my kids up north, and she couldn’t leave her child and career down south.
The boss on the other hand came to her realization a bit later.
I still remember, and occasionally get angry at, the thought of that evening when her new interest came to town on a visit, and I figured out what had happened.
Without going into details, I told her how I felt about her, the life we had, and that I didn’t want her to leave, but also wouldn’t stop her because she had to make the decision herself.
What saved us were two things.
First, she had known things with the realtor were closer than it should have been, but justified that if she left, I’d have someone. When I explained what had happened and how far things hadn’t progressed based on common sense, suddenly she wasn’t okay with it. That jealousy made her realize she still cared.
Second, as shit was hitting the fan, her family found out what happened, and her mom called her. The discussion started with her mom arguing that things really aren’t bad since we’re taken care of, I’m good to the kids, and I don’t abuse her.
This last bit set my wife off, because she argued that shouldn’t be the standard by which we measure healthy relationships. I agree.
As my wife argued that things with this new beau were better than with me, and that he treated her better, the wind was taken out of her sails when my mother-in-law asked a simple question, “When was the last time she showed me the same attention she does the new guy?”
The answer was simple, because just like every married couple on the planet, we fell into a routine, that although not by any means a bad life, it wasn’t as exciting as a budding new romance.
The reason I share this is because my wife and I were one of the lucky few who made it.
How many couples get past a point of no return, where one of the partners comes to their senses too late?
We both share this story with other couples around us when we find out they’re having trouble because of one plain truth…
My wife was convinced she’d found “true love” and nothing like it was ever going to come along again.
How many cheating spouses say a version of that same phrase? Too many is the answer you’re looking for.
You’re not an exception, you’re the rule.
My faults were blown out of proportion, and his easily justified away. And she’s not alone, because it’s how we’re wired.
We’re a sexually charged species, and although the reasons for cheating may be different, we all have the occasional “impure thought” about someone else.
That, to me, is natural, but it’s how you deal with those thoughts that counts.
The practical part of me understands I’m thinking with my penis, and do I really want to throw away my entire life for what could be maybe five mediocre minutes in the sack?
(Having sex with someone the first time tends to be awkward!)
Now Hank, what the fuck does this have to do with a movie?
Read the title.
Charlotte and Fred have zero consequences for her infidelity, and that’s a major issue for me.
Will people watch this film, who are looking outside of their relationship, and use it as a justification to cheat? Probably, although only an insane person would admit they were inspired by a fictitious situation.
As human beings we turn to some really outlandish arguments when justifying actions we know are “morally questionable”.
We don’t need to give people more inspiration to be assholes.
TOM
…And you’re being a bit dramatic
because you’re 38, and this is *
your first experience with a
broken heart.
Charlotte looks at Tom as if he had just shot her.
TOM (CONT’D)
I’m sorry – did you really not *
know that’s what this is?
What would have been a better response would have been calling Charlotte out point blank by confusing “true love” with a simple affair.
Sometimes people need that cold slap to the face.
I hope the film deals better with this subject matter, that if Charlotte and Fred do choose to do what they do, there’s more consequences to their actions, both publically and privately.
The way the script ends now is a fucking fairy tale, and nothing more.
“True love” is the fairy tale, and sets unrealistic expectations for human beings that justify doing things we shouldn’t.
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