Last weekend it snowed in my area. The unexpected down time afforded me several hours to lounge in front of the TV with lots of cookies and ice cream.
While scanning the menu for something to watch, I stumbled upon the movie An Unmarried Woman. Naturally, I found the title to be intriguing, so Boyfriend pushed the play button.
The flick follows Erica Benton, a New Yorker, through the end of what she thought was a happy marriage. Despite the age of the film (1978), the content remains relevant as Erica struggles with her identity, leans on her girlfriends, reaches out to a therapist, experiments with men and grapples with her role as a mother. Some of my favorite quotes were:
- “Depression has a way of making itself nice and comfortable.”
- “[Daddy] left me, not you.”
- “Do you think you’ll feel like this forever?”
That language might not be exact. I typed from memory instead of rewinding and taking notes. In any case, I thought it was a great divorce movie. And I was lucky enough to find the trailer on YouTube so you can click below and see a few snippets for yourself. Enjoy!
The best scene is when Clayburgh’s husband asks her out to lunch and then tells her he’s in love with someone else, and he’s been seeing her over a year. I saw this movie ages ago and watched in horror as Clayburgh’s character realized that her husband had lied to her and cheated on her for over a year. Her face! Then she walks away down the sidewalk and throws up right there on the street.
I never thought it would happen to me. A discovery like that is like being in a horror movie. Your worst nightmare come true. Never in a million years did I think the man who said he loved me could hurt me like that.
I thought the movie did a fantastic job of communicating exactly how out-of-the-blue something like that can be. She had no reason to suspect such a thing.
Roger Ebert gave this movie his highest rating (although I don’t think he’s added it to his list of “Great Movies,” yet.) I’m going to have to see this one. Thanks for the recommendation!
Robert Ebert’s review.