“I never really came alive for myself; I was only feeding his aliveness.”
Once the audience has a glimpse into their lives, the power imbalance between Nicole and Charlie in the marriage is clear. Charlie is a successful theater director with influence in both the public and private spheres. Nicole on the other hand works for his company and has no say in the artistic direction of anything they are working on. She was a former actress who is trying to revive her career in television once more. In the statement, she alludes to the power balance between them that sees Nicole living in the shadow of her husband. However, as the story progresses Nicole comes alive for herself and reestablishes her career and image.
“I want you to know that eventually this'll all be over, and whatever we win or lose, it'll be the two of you having to figure this out together.”
Lawyers tend to pit couples against each other during divorce proceedings in order to win their individual cases. Their divorce takes a turn for the worse after each of the partners hires a vicious lawyer who manipulates the situation. Initially, Charlie had Bert as his divorce lawyer because he is sensible and is much more optimistic about the result. During this period he advises Charlie that despite the legal process the most important aspect is figuring it out together. Though he fires him they end up following this advice after going through the ugly divorce process.
“Criminal lawyers see bad people at their best, divorce lawyers see good people at their worst.”
Though the resentments in the marriage are the reasons for divorce they reach their fruition during the separation period. To solve their marital problems Nicole and Charlie involve a mediator to work through them but fail at it. During the divorce proceedings, they both reveal their worst sides to convey the unresolved issues they had during the marriage. Though the lawyers manipulate and escalate the situation, it stems from the bitterness that the spouses already have. Thus, the attitude of the lawyers comes from seeing people at their worst hence their pessimistic look on cases.
