Story Origen
Stephen King wrote a short story, inspired by similar actual events. A man, Dennis Radar killed 10 people. He was married for 25 years and his wife never knew that a serial killer was her loving husband, while being a loving dad to their two children.
King explored the emotional journey the wife went through after learning of her husband’s secret life. Different versions will lean towards what actually happened since the strange circumstances were punctuated by an even more bizarre ending.
Introduction
Actual Movie Link on YouTube - https://youtu.be/Pup--uICLxQ
The Creative Smith’s review of the “A Good Marriage” movie, written as a short story by Stephen King has contrasting views of those published by Rotten Tomatoes. These views are rooted in the audience’s familiarity with Stephen King’s work, the actual story that inspired King’s short story, basic knowledge of psychology and an eye for detail.
At first glance, the story on its own was described as flat, but Creative Smith believes that director Peter Askin did a brilliant job with the film for true Psychological Thriller Enthusiasts. Other reviews describe the movie as flat, which it appears on the surface, but we implore you to watch the movie after reading this article and make up your mind independently. The Creative Smith rate the movie as quite the opposite from flat since the depth of the movie is much broader than the seemingly simple plot. The actors fit their roles perfectly and leave the audience wondering the entire movie. The edge of your seat will be engulfed by the question, is the wife in on it or a cunning killer.
Main Characters
The cast is small, and although many more roles are listed on the IMDb page, these are the roles we feel were crucial to the plot.
Wife and Mom -Joan Allen | ... | ||
Husband and Dad -Anthony LaPaglia | ... | ||
Detective - Stephen Lang | ... | ||
Neighbour -Cara Buono | ... |
Plot
Bob and Darcy Anderson are happily married for 25-years. Bob has a secret serial killer life Darcy and their two adult children aren’t aware. 12 Killings are reported to have been committed in their luxurious suburban area by the BD or Beadie killer, recognised by notes left at all the crime scenes. Detective Ramsey is close on the killer’s trail, but without evidence to make an arrest.
Neighbour Betty Pike seems to be the next victim. Ramsey needs to prove that BD stands for Bob and Darsy, but Darcy is unaware of the killings, or so it seems.
Breakdown of Complexities
To grasp the complexity of the movie, fans will need to be familiar with the following.
Stephen King - The King’s stories always have plot twists, based mostly on actual events. A Good Marriage is no different and nothing you see or hear in the movie is by accident. King is well versed in the “show don’t tell” method of storytelling, so keep your eyes and ears wide open.
True Events - The story is based on the BTK Murderer, Dennis Rader Saga. A Good Marriage is more of a story inspired by actual events mixed with the professional creative art of story telling by Stephen King and the film director, Peter Askin.
Basic Psychology - For a significant portion of the movie, the director toys with Bob maybe having a split personality, which is usually caused by significant childhood drama. The method for killing the victims lean towards a power struggle. At the same time, it does seem that Darsy has a form of Schizophrenia, but it is not clear if it is an onset from the medication she takes, although the medication suggests that she struggles with stomach acid, possibly caused by stress.
Symbolisms - Several instances indicate the number 2. Traditionally a marriage is between two people. The bedroom mirror has several functions, all rooted in a reflection. Split personalities aren’t limited by two, but Bob does mention one other person dictating his actions. Although not spelled out, it does seem that the story might at one time lend itself to the possibility that Bob and Darcy were partners not only in marriage, but also in homicide.
Neighbour - Neighbour Betty Pike isn’t as innocent as seem tries to appear. She enjoys sexual attention from men. Her home has no curtains like the Anderson’s home which are nearly permanently drawn shut. She displays a silhouetted sexual act in the middle of a room for everyone to see. Her revealing shirt not only interested Bob’s attention, but Bob did mention that she rubs her breasts against him, which he didn’t act upon. Pike confirms Darsy’s suspicions that Bob was constantly ogling her, but as soon as Darcy confronts Bob at the party, he appears to be emotional. Together with Darcy displaying a drastic change to erratic behaviour from then on opens the possibility that she could be killing out of anger. Possibly sending a message to her husband that she is in control. Bob’s behaviour never deviates.
Symbolism and Deeper meaning
There are a few symbols to draw between objects and the story. They might be a coincidence, but in a broader spectrum they explain hypotheses which don’t appear in other reviews, taking into consideration that mostly review summaries are available.
Mirror - The reflective properties of the mirror in the Anderson bedroom show a picture of reality. For Darcy, as an attractive and sophisticated elderly woman, she uses the mirror for confirmation that she appears the way she wants. Bob uses the mirror to see an angle of reality which he prefers. It isn’t clear whether he wanted to look at the neighbour’s house where he noticed that Betty is about to entertain a lover sexually, while making love to Darcy, or whether he wants to see himself making love to her secretly, much like having a mirror on the bedroom roof.
Schizophrenia - It seems as if Darcy has some level of schizophrenia when she confronts the knowledge that Bob might have been a killer. Her conversation with him happens while he wasn’t at home lying in her bed and holding her, which only indicates everything already hidden in her subconscious. The story is told from Darcy’s perspective which places the audience in the same journey of discovery as Darcy. The effect of suspense is being exaggerated when Darcy herself can’t distinguish between hallucinations and reality. Her medication revealed that she has a stomach acid condition, which leaves us to believe that she doesn’t realise her mental condition. Bob might know this, but doesn’t do anything about it. It could be that Bob’s alter personality coexists with Darcy’s hallucinations which are dormant when she is lucid.
Marriage - The story title could have been anything, but “A Good Marriage was chosen”. Traditionally, a marriage is between two people living life together on different levels of efficiency. This might indicate that the killings were done in union between the altar-realities of Bob and Darcy. In the actual records of the BTK (Bind, Torture, Kill) case, Dennis’s wife never suspected him being a murderer for close to three decades. This is hard to believe, but we do see Bob serving Darcy fizzy water with lime on a tray, much like a servant/ butler. Darcy dangle the possibility of sex by allowing him to work for it and possibly “get lucky”. The power-play is evidently in Darcy’s court which indicates that Bob could be looking for dominance somewhere else, just as the killing method evidence suggests. It also suggests that Darcy enjoys being in control. If both fantasise about opposite roles in the bedroom, the perfect picture of Bob having his way with murder victims while Darcy finishes the killing deed out of hatred/ jealousy.
Neighbour's Lack of Modesty - Neighbour Betty Pike isn’t shy to flaunt her sexuality. Not with clothing or having curtains at her house when she’s about to sleep with a man. This suggests that she fantasises about people watching her and Bob was merely handed a show on a silver platter. Although no evidence suggesting this theory, this situation could easily have been a trap, orchestrated by Darcy for Bob.
Heartburn and Medication - Darcy’s medication doesn’t suggest that she has schizophrenia, although the movie does show her having hallucinations while her husband’s not at home. Should the situation be misunderstood as Darcy actually merely having thoughts of speaking with Bob, the medication still reflects a stomach acid problem. While the family’s financial situation seems to be prosperous and life is going well with the children who are by now adults, diet and stress are the cause of the highly treatable medical condition. Since elderly/ experienced people already worked out their gastronomical challenges, stress remains the cause for the condition. Since Darcy’s medication was prescribed and the fizzy water is a regular beverage, it is safe to assume that the medical condition is pre existing. The question then becomes, “why”.
Dad Emotions stable - Right through the movie, Bob’s emotions were stable. He got slightly excited when he was presented a prize, but never got frustrated with Darcy, even when she treated him like a servant. Whether it is a private bedroom game or not. His emotions fit the situation and remained stable. Apart from admitting that he has an alternative personality, we never see the other personality in the movie, besides from Darcy’s hallucinations where he threatened her. This can all be explained by Bob also having a Psychopathic condition where he also doesn’t have emotions on top of split personalities. This contrasts his emotional appearance at the party, but could admittedly also be an act.
Mom Emotions Erratic - Darcy seems to be stable in the beginning. Maybe a bit stiff and self centred to fit an upper class status, but this rapidly changes after she admits to have figured out Bob’s supposed secret. One expects a more significant breakdown when she realised that her husband is a murderer, but she took it quite well. Thereafter, as if trying to act as if she didn’t know Bob’s secret, she surprisingly acts more dominating towards Bob. One would believe that fear would cause an opposite behaviour change. The emotional dilemma is recognised when she doesn’t phone the police right away, but the hot and cold reactions only reflect her inner struggle. Instead, she opted to kill Bob herself, something non killers rarely see as an option.
The Murder - Darcy pushes Bob from the second floor landing to fall on a table, hoping he will be dead. When she learns that he survived the fall, she operates like an experienced murderer by putting a cloth inside a bag to smother Bob while choking him with his tie. This is hardly the actions of someone who has never been killed before. Watching the light leaving Bob’s eyes is something experienced murderers savour. Thereafter, Darcy’s first thoughts are to hide the evidence, once again, without panic. She washes the blood from the plastic bag, and since there is no DNA evidence on the cloth, she replaces it to its place, making sure it hangs neatly. Something someone in panic would rarely care about. While washing the bag, she notices water pouring out of holes bitten into the plastic bag and immediately knew that a piece of plastic evidence remained in Bob’s mouth. She takes it out emotionless and chucks it away.
Conclusion
A Good Marriage has a lot more going on than what one sees on the surface. The director did a stellar job in showing the audience the story without telling it. The downside is that if one hasn’t read the book, the audience misses out on a lot of back story.
The movie director has an artistic licence to create his vision from the book, just as the writer had an artistic licence to create a version of actual events. All three versions could be significantly different, just like the two perspectives in any court case. This not only reflects in the numerous reviews which fall in a spectrum of perceptions of the movie, but like any story, there is more to it than what you see at face value.
Rating
5 star
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This might be an old movie, but it is a gem between the Stephen King short story adaptations. It is highly underrated and received underserved critique from people who don’t have the vast psychological understanding of what they see. This review will help you with whatever you lack so that you can make up your own mind. Enjoy….
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