MOTHER
A film review by Michael Redman
Copyright 1997 Michael Redman
*** (out of ****)
Albert Brooks' new film is aimed at anyone who has ever had, ever been or is thinking of ever becoming a mother. While admittedly this is a fairly large segment of the movie-going public and the film is often extremely charming, "Mother" is not for everyone.
There are no explosions, car chases or visible big guns. Broad slapstick comedy is at a minimum. There aren't even very many outrageous rolling on the floor laughing scenes. What there is, is an abundance of wit and humanity that produce knowing smiles and chuckles. Looking around, you can see the thought balloons floating above the audience members, "Yeah, my mom does exactly the same thing."
Brooks plays John Henderson, a science fiction author ("Planet Seven" and "Planet Eight" -- care to guess the title of his next book?) hitting his mid-life crisis head on as he concludes his second divorce. Realizing that all of his relationships with women are based on the first woman in his life, he decides to move back in with mom to try and figure out what's wrong.
Mother (Debbie Reynolds in her first leading role in over 25 years) doesn't exactly understand what John calls his "Experiment", but goes along with it good-naturedly albeit with something of a suspicious attitude. Emptying out his old bedroom which has become a sewing room (read "storage shed", because mother doesn't really sew), sonny boy digs out his posters and trophies from high school. Shortly it looks like a typical teenager's room in the sixties.
Except for a small part by John's younger, more successful and still tied to mommy, brother (Rob Morrow), the film belongs to Brooks and Reynolds. One or both are almost constantly on-screen and they do their characters wonderfully. Reynolds shines as the over-bearing mother when she offers her son antique generic orange sherbet with its "protective ice coating" and slices a piece of frozen cheese off a block big enough to clog the arteries of an entire town.
Morrow's whinny brother is adequately performed, but the actor hasn't captured a character with much enthusiasm since his days as Dr. Joel on "Northern Exposure".
Occasionally you can see the ghost of Woody Allen in the background as Brooks, who also directed and co-wrote, mines the same relationship territory. Although Brooks doesn't have the same timing genius, he does seem tapped into life outside the big city more than Woody. Set in Sausalito, the ultimate Yuppie west coast village, the film feels more open and universally accessible that Allen's New York geocentrism.
There are some rough points in the film. Part of the appeal is that many scenes are underplayed, almost like real life; but at times you will be disappointed that the bigger pay-off is missing. The ending is tied up a bit too neatly and could have used a little more time.
The story explores the subtle and sometimes not-so subtle ways that the mother and son treat each other as symbols and archetypes rather than as people. John's revelation comes when he realizes that his mother is not just someone who does things to him, but an individual with hopes, dreams and disappointments.
The theme of seeing beyond the masks is food for thought. The film's message is that until adult children can do this, every day of their life will be "mother's day".
[This appeared in the "Bloomington Voice", Bloomington, Indiana 1/31/97. Michael Redman can be reached at mredman@bvoice.com ]
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