Raises good questions about infidelity and blame

Rating: Null/10 (3 October 2011)

Some comments on movie websites quote Jacob's lines and complain of sexism. I'd say there's a big difference between portraying something and being something, but the message boards are missing a more interesting point.
Here, let's imagine the genders of Crazy, Stupid, Love reversed: CALLIE: My husband just left me, and he slept with some woman at the office! JACKIE: Well, it's no wonder: you've certainly let yourself go. I'm going to make you over and teach you how to get into a man's pants more effectively. You know, rediscover your femininity.
It's unfair, though, to attack a screenplay for making nonjudgmental observations about human nature. Better to first address the accuracy of each problematic point, in case it isn't the words themselves that offend you, but the truth of them.
Is it true, then, that we're obligated to court our spouses tirelessly, for the rest of our lives, because they're "only human" and may "stray?" Is counting on them to remain faithful on your bad hair days the same as taking them for granted? If "working late" comes to mean "exchanging bodily fluids with Jamie from accounting," is it the cheater's fault for cheating? Is it your fault for working too many Saturdays, getting flabby from lack of exercise, wearing the wrong shoes and forgetting to compliment your spouse on wearing the right shoes? Is your spouse at fault for failing to love and cherish you no matter how rotten your teeth have become and how bad you smell? Do you share the blame equally? Or is "fault" a useless concept in a struggling marriage in which you're both flawed, make mistakes and blah, blah, blah?
--from my review at www.1man365movies.com