nancy lee

I like the music with a good sense of rhythem at the beginning of this film which turns out to be a big trouble: The mother Joanna moves off, leaving the workaholic father Ted and the 7-year-old son Billy.

Although Ted loses his decent job, he completes a switch from a self-centered and clumsy father to a considerate one( who can finally "deal with" the bread smoothly).

Although Joanna suffers from the separation from her boy, she completes a switch from an unhappy housewife to a career woman in the persuit of her dream, which brings her the happiness she never felt before.

So, who is the winner?

When the successful Joanna comes back for the custody right of Billy, I think Ted is the looser. But when the tearful Joanna decides to leave Billy to his father, I am confused.

Some people would like to say the kid is the most innocent and the one who gets hurt most. The parents, however, have they really grown up? They seem like kids sometimes. They have no idea about how to balance and communicate.

Another important element in this movie is the feminism at that time in America. Just like Laura in Ibsen's play, Joanna walks out of her home alone, at the same time, the interesting scene comes in the end: Ted especially let Joanna take the elevator to see their son alone. What a good match! Another interesting plot as a contrast is that Joanna's friend Margaret, a so-called feminist, accepts her ex-husband because of love. In the competition of ego and love, who is the winner? For sure, the problem of women's role in family and society still exists today in our world. As a rhetorical question goes: "If women are weaker than men, then why there would be so many restrictions on them in history till today?"

Well, in this warm film this issue is diluted by the emotion of love. Yes, love brings maturity into marriage.