MOTHER
Copyright 1996 D & S Associates
In albert Brooks' latest film, "Mother", science fiction writer John Henderson (Brooks), suffering from two failed marriages and a severe case of writer's block, decides to confront his demons - one of whom may be his mother!
John sets out to find his true self and disprove the old adage, "You can't go home, again," when he decides to move back home with his mother, Beatrice, played by Debbie Reynolds. John feels his mother is the key to what went wrong with his life and career.
What John discovers is unexpected by both him and Beatrice.
ROBIN:
Aside from a wonderful performance by Debbie Reynolds in the title role, I didn't find the premise of "Mother" to be particularly compelling. Brooks' character John is very flat, with little development over the course of the film. He starts as a schlemeil, he ends as a schlemiel with a date.
Debbie Reynolds, on the other hand, is the saving grace of the film and give a terrific performance and a decent character study of Beatrice. She displays the kind of logic and sense that only a mother can show. That's the strength of her performance - she reps all moms to some degree. Reynolds als develops Beatrice all through the movie, so, by the end, she is a complete different person, in your eye, than at the start. This is mainly through the strength of the actor. I look forward to her getting notice.
This is the least manic of Brooks' films, seeming that he has some sort of internal ax to grind than audience entertainment as the goal of the film.
I can't recommend seeing "Mother" at the theater, unless you take your mother! Otherwise, leave it for video rental or cable.
I give "Mother" a C+, and loved Debbie.
LAURA:
Debbie Reynolds makes an amazingly impressive comeback after 27 years as the title character of Albert Brooks' thoroughly amusing and easily-identified-with "Mother".
Albert Brooks is John Henderson, the older of Beatrice's two sons. His brother Jeff (Rob Morrow) is unusually close to his mother and John feels he's much less liked. After his second divorce, Sci-fi writer John decides to go live with Mom for a while to discover if the basis their relationship is why he can't connect with women. The mother he discovers is an eye-opener!
Brooks not only stars, but also wrote and directed. His screenplay is thoughtful, poignant and funny and his direction compliments the production. Brooks' adventures with Mom include a visit to her 'food museum' where ice crystals 'protect' the shebert and cheese comes in frozen 3 lb. blocks, grocery shopping with strongly conflicting economical philosophies and having Mom tell complete strangers his life story everywhere they go.
Debbie Reynolds' performance is Oscar nomination calibre. She manages to appear rather clueless when she, in fact, is independent, modern and artistic - the wonderful thing about the subtlety of her acting is that you completely accept the her hidden capabilities and talents as they're revealed. Brooks is fine as the slightly pathetic John. Rob Morrow gives his best big screen performance as the whiny mummy's boy who's initially presented as a successful sports agent and eventually revealed as a selfish, needy child.
Go see "Mother" and I suspect you'll see something of yourself.
B+
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