It seems as if, as I read through other comments, that many people either do not understand the film or have not paid attention to what is going on in the story. I've read one that stated something along the lines of, "How could a man go so insane that he's locked up for ten years because he's mad about another man beating his wife?!"<br /><br />If one pays attention to the context clues, it is apparent that Eddie has a history of mental illness. The story does not begin with the opening scene. You have to pay attention to the film's details and its allusions to pre-existing circumstances.<br /><br />I thought this film was excellent. The characters are not likeable people on the surface. If I knew someone like Maureen in real life I'd probably detest her. Maureen left her children to be with her lover, she drank while pregnant, and she's dumb as rocks, but you have to look past the character flaws and focus on what this story is about. It's not about morals and reasonable, rational decision-making. Those concepts do not typically make for artistic expression. This story is about love and obsession - two human conditions that are not often pleasant but very real. Anyone who has been in love knows that it can drive you mad. It's such a drag; at the same time, there's nothing else that can make you so high the way love does. You have to appreciate the feelings that Mo and Eddie have for one another.<br /><br />I don't understand how one can NOT appreciate, how one can NOT absolutely love, some of the hysterical dialogue in this film. Maureen tells Eddie she wants to smash bottles over peoples heads and then adds, "Because I love you." That thought of Maureen's becomes something later in the film that Eddie says repeatedly. Mo's thoughts become a part of Eddie's self-perception.<br /><br />The defining moment in this film is when Eddie and Mo reunite. It's the look that they give each other as they drive off leaving her family. The look in their eyes is real, and you can see that, at least to them, there was nothing else for her to do but go with him. To them it was the only right thing in the world.