Still, there are some good laughs. After fifteen years of marriage, their romance has shriveled under the press of the mechanics of living and annoying personal habits that have assumed the power to destroy even their friendship. This couple is stuck at the fifteen-year danger point when all of life seems to be nothing but laundry, driving, cooking, planning, and the other endless details that soak up every waking moment. Ben cries out. He won't get that from Katie at this moment in her motherhood.
Children allow people to disconnect slowly.
Katie and Ben throw themselves frantically into loving their children while their concern for each other moves to the end of the priorities list. Their children are buffering them while their marriage falls apart. The question of whether they want to rebuild later is the tough part. This is the stuff of suburban marriage, a superficial, less brutal version of American Beauty. And that's the problem.