He really went to all that trouble just to get a letter to her?
Yeah he had a restraining order, but he could've just sent an email from an anonymous email account, what's the difference ??
The whole premise of the movie just doesn't make sense.
This is a good question. In theory, sending the letter through an intermediary still violated the restraining order. The law is pretty clear about that. So contacting the wife through Jennifer's character or through a fake email account is still problematic (for a protective order). He was taking a big chance by doing this; they don't have some sort of cool loophole here. (And I say this as a lawyer who has dealt with these things a little bit.)
I also had this question: We know that he beat up the dude; but was there any indication that he hit his wife? I don't recall that. My understanding would be that she could not get a protective order against him for his assaulting the dude. Based on how much he says he loved her, it's hard to believe that he would threaten or assault her. Just puzzled about this.
Maybe he threatened her when he was drunk sometime, they didn't really offer any details.
That combined with the other assault, could be enough for the restraining order, not sure. You know more than me. Or it's just a plot hole! You're right though, he didn't seem like your typical "restraining order" abuser.