I still don't understand neighbor Jean's reaction....

I just came here to see if this was being discussed. I have seen the movie several times and I still don't get what that reaction was all about.

I too came here partly because of that scene. At first, I thought it was only because she knew (or suspected) that Sarah was playing around.
But she seemed very happy when Sarah first walked in, so it may not be that.

I figure its either she was offended by Sarah offering her money (implying she is NOT friends with her after all, it was just a business arrangement) OR the impersonal offering of the money somehow 'told' the neighbor that Sarah was in fact screwing around on her hubby. That she lied to her.


"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

I also wasn't 100% on what happened. I assumed the daughter told her about mommy hanging out with this guy, making it obvious they are having an affair, but I was reading through the posts and someone suggested that it was because the felt Sarah wasn't giving the daughter enough attention.

I figured it was bc Sarah didn't ask about Lucy. It's confusing to me as well.

Who Cares.

Maybe she was a little insulted by how Sarah kept insisting on giving her money. She was just doing her friend a favor and, in her eyes, not that big of a favor because she obviously enjoys spending time with Sarah's daughter. Sarah has no comprehension of why anyone would willingly want to spend time with her daughter, though. Like someone else said, she didn't even ask after her.

Or it could be that Jean suspected Sarah was having an affair and Sarah's insistence on paying her somehow confirmed that. That was my original guess. Maybe Sarah wouldn't have been so persistent about paying her if she hadn't felt guilty about lying and her real reason for leaving. And Jean could have been initially willing to overlook that or but, when Sarah became insistent about paying her, it was like Sarah was trying to make her an accomplice in the act.

Maybe it was a combination of both. Either way, Jean's behavior came off as someone who was insulted to me.

"The guy we're meeting with can't even grow his own hair?!? COME ON!!!" -Gob

Well, maybe I'm reaching, but they had all discussed Madame Bovary at the book club and Sarah was the one who said she could understand Madame Bovary's destructive behavior and called it feminist because she as rebelling. Maybe Jean was able to put two and two together once she observed Sarah's nervousness upon her return.

Honestly, I think this was just one of MANY scenes in this movie that made no sense at all.

"I must go meet my lover! I must get to her, I'm running, running, running! My future happiness and passion depends on getting to her now! Oh, skateboarders! I think I'll abruptly stop and hang out with them even though I see them all the time. La di da...wait, where was going? Oh, it must not have been important."

When I first watched, I thought, why the change? Then I thought that perhaps Lucy made a comment to Jean, and she connected the dots. It is just one more example of the self-righteous behavior of the community (and the correlation to Madame Bouvary). The "little sister" in the book club, one of the biddies that sits in the park with her kids whole deal about Madame B being a slut. Basically she is referring to Sarah, intimating that she is. That close-mindedness that is shared by the entire town leads to tragedy and heartache all around. Sarah is kind of an idiot, but she is the ONLY person in this whole movie I feel anything for. Everyone else in this film is a complete A=Hole! I rarely find that many a-holes in one film. hehe