durotto Posted January 19, 2009 Posted January 19, 2009 For those of you who have never seen the movie here is the lowdown from wikipedia: Jenna, a waitress living in the American South (though the movie was actually shot in and around Canyon Country, California), is trapped in an unhappy marriage to a jealous, controlling, and abusive man named Earl. She works in Joe's Pie Diner, where her job includes creating the unique pies of her life, such as the "I Don't Want Earl's Baby" pie (aka Bad Baby pie) she invents after her unwanted pregnancy is confirmed. Jenna longs to run away from her dismal situation, and is hiding money to do so. Her only friends are Becky and Dawn, her fellow waitresses, and Joe, the curmudgeonly diner owner who encourages her to escape from her bad marriage and begin a new life elsewhere. Jenna's life changes dramatically after she meets her OB/GYN, Jim Pomatter, a Connecticut transplant who has moved to the small town to accommodate his wife, who is completing her residency at the local hospital. Jenna and Jim embark on a passionate affair, and eventually Jenna thinks of him as not only her lover, but best friend as well. Jenna begins to keep a journal, addressing her thoughts to her unborn child. Between these entries and the various pies she creates, the audience witnesses her innermost hopes and dreams, concerns and fears, and slowly growing feelings for the baby she insisted she didn't want. Reluctant mother Jenna instantly falls in love with the baby girl she names Lulu. When Earl reminds Jenna of her promise earlier not to love the baby more than she does him, she gains the strength to tell him she hasn't loved him in years and will no longer put up with his possessive and abusive ways and wants a divorce. In retaliation he refuses to pay the hospital bills, and she is abruptly discharged. As Becky and Dawn are helping her prepare to leave the hospital to live with Dawn and her husband until she can formulate a plan for her future, Jenna remembers an envelope Joe had delivered to her when he too was admitted as a patient. In it she finds a handmade card with a sketch of her, a check for $270,450, and a message urging her to start fresh. As she departs from the hospital, Jenna ends her relationship with Jim and begins her life anew. An epilogue shows Jenna winning a pie contest and as the new owner of the diner where she worked, now called Lulu's Pies, serving brightly colored pies to her customers and friends. The final shot shows her walking home with toddler Lulu (played by Shelly's actual daughter, Sophie). I hated seeing her having an affair with that guy .. I mean for crying out loud both of you are married .. That is just cheating and I don't know why but I got turned off that movie just seeing them cheat .. and the movie portrayed their love as genuine love ,, I mean wtf .. how can you condone cheating ? what about their spouses.. nothing and nothing gives anyone the right to cheat on their partners .. boy I am so mad right now !!
peteyj Posted January 19, 2009 Posted January 19, 2009 We live in a world where nobody has morals anymore. Call it what you want but people just assume they can do whatever they want and never suffer any consequences for it. If somebody wants out...then get out... All this bull about being in a bad relationship, but not ending it, and then cheating...is just bullcrap to me.. End the relationship then do what the hell you want.. Stop with the charade of staying in a relationship, then cheating, then pretending like you feel bad about it. Only thing they feel bad about is getting caught.
Author durotto Posted January 19, 2009 Author Posted January 19, 2009 We live in a world where nobody has morals anymore. Call it what you want but people just assume they can do whatever they want and never suffer any consequences for it. If somebody wants out...then get out... All this bull about being in a bad relationship, but not ending it, and then cheating...is just bullcrap to me.. End the relationship then do what the hell you want.. Stop with the charade of staying in a relationship, then cheating, then pretending like you feel bad about it. Only thing they feel bad about is getting caught. Agreed and it makes me sick .. The whole cheating thing makes it look like as if relationships and trust just do not matter and can be manipulated . What is the value of trust and honesty and integrity ?
DSM-IV Tom Posted January 19, 2009 Posted January 19, 2009 Agreed. Despicable. I have your back 100% on how disgusting cheating and lying is. There is no excuse for it, 100% hell no, no excuse. Sluts.
clv0116 Posted January 19, 2009 Posted January 19, 2009 If you switched things around and made the same movie from the point of view of the cheating Dr. he would be castigated everywhere (not just here) for being a low-down dirty cheating so-and-so, but instead since she's a woman seeking empowerment the movie gets glowing reviews. We live in a sick world.
sunshinegirl Posted January 19, 2009 Posted January 19, 2009 Funny, I really loved the movie the first time I saw it. I didn't love how casually they treated the affair, but it didn't ruin it for me. I hadn't been cheated on at that point in time. I think if I watched it again now, I would probably throw large heavy objects at the screen!
lonelygurl Posted January 19, 2009 Posted January 19, 2009 certain people in society are really pushing that it is okay behaviour and many people are buying into it. It is flaunted constantly on TV shows and movies. Just look at daytime soaps or shows such as desperate housewives. Also, later on in the evenings they have commericals for I think it is called Ashley adison??? or something (can't think of the last part) and they are advertising to join when you are in an unsatisfying marriage ect. to hook up with others who want to have affairs. They also put out talk shows and sex shows all about how it is not normal to be monogamous. It is all really sad. When I was listening to the radio today they said there are actually more single people now than married and that it is time for married/attached people to stop asking single people why they are not married as it is not normal. More and more people are chosing to be single.....you wonder why?????
peteyj Posted January 20, 2009 Posted January 20, 2009 If somebody wants to sleep around then be single and date whomever they want whenever they want....If somebody wants to be in a marriage just for the tax benefits then they should do whatever they want if both parties agree to that theory... But when people get married to get married cause they supposedly 'love' one another then there should be none of this cheating and other bullcrap that's being paraded around... If people don't believe in monogamy or marriage, then they shouldn't get married. They shouldn't come up with the excuse monogamy and marriage doesn't work after they cheated.
Trialbyfire Posted January 20, 2009 Posted January 20, 2009 Empowerment of women is about having respect for yourself and doing it for yourself. This woman makes a piss-poor choice of marrying a bad boy, doesn't know how to effectively ensure that she's properly safeguarded and gets pregnant from the abusive jerk, has a glorified affair with another married individual and is saved from this by her friend and someone else's generosity. Can anyone tell me what part of this movie is about empowerment? If anything, it's about dumb luck and a continuous flow of bad choices in life.
underpants Posted January 20, 2009 Posted January 20, 2009 I don't have any intention of watching this. As a former waitress I find the plot line to be a stereotypical misrepresentation of waitresses with yet another stereotypical Hollywood happy ending spin. It is a catch all type of job. The description sounds like many movies that turn continuous bad decisions into happy and unrealistic outcomes. Yet we wonder as a society why we slip into further unaccountability for our choices. Are we, what we read and watch?
clv0116 Posted January 20, 2009 Posted January 20, 2009 She ends up with a stack of cash and owning her own very successful business. I think that's the part, essentially well, the whole movie.
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