MOTHER
A film review by Walter Frith
Copyright 1997 Walter Frith
Albert Brooks is a successful and respected entertainer for two reasons. One, he is a great example of the ordinary guy in just about every movie he does which most of us can relate to and two, his writing has a biting sensation of reality and often a radical perception of reality many refuse to face. 'Lost in America' (1985), 'Broadcast News' (1987) and 'Defending Your Life' (1991) are all examples of Brooks' talent both diverse and highly entertaining. 'Defending Your Life' was a fantasy but I can picture many people believing what the afterlife might be the same way Brooks portrayed it in that movie. Debbie Reynolds is 'Mother.' Her two sons played by Albert Brooks and Rob Morrow are respectable, hard working men but mother has favoured her sports agent son, Morrow over Brooks who is a writer of glib science fiction. A wonderful wife and two kids is a great bonus for Morrow while Brooks being twice divorced doesn't sit well with his family. Brooks drives from Los Angeles to San Francisco and moves back in with mother and his reason is that it's an 'experiment' to see if he can somehow figure out his relationship with his mother then maybe he can finally adjust to finding the right mate and finally adjust to women in all aspects of his life. This movie is filled with situations that will almost certainly make a lot of men say "Hey, I've had that experience with my mother!" or "Wow, I can't believe how this movie details the little things that cause friction in a relationship!" It's a dark and humourous and pain stakingly detailed screenplay co-written by Brooks and directed by the man himself. Mother is one of the most realistic slices of life I've ever seen and I related to it better than most movies I saw in 1996 and Debbie Reynolds is terrific as the mother who offers love, advice and compassion in an unorthodox and least obvious way towards her sons. Albert Brooks is a treat as always and this gem of a movie is certain to become another buried treasure which will probably find a huge following on home video as its theatre release has been limited. For everyone that's ever had a mother, don't miss this one!
OUT OF 5> * * * *
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews