THE MOTHER
Reviewed by: Harvey S. Karten
Grade: A-
Sony Pictures Classics
Directed by: Roger Michell
Written by: Hanif Kureishi
Cast: Anne Reid, Peter Vaughan, Daniel Craig, Steven
Mackintosh, Oliver Ford Davies
Screened at: Sony, NYC, 4/5/04
We writers who enjoy a high level of literacy love to look down
our noses at people who spout cliches, don't we? And yet,
when you come right down to it, many cliches are so apropos
that not even Shakespearean English can trump their veracity.
Take a look at this wonderful new, British contribution to
cinema, "The Mother." What comes to mind (pardon the cliche)
right off the bat? "Better late than never." Also: "You can't
teach an old dog new tricks," and its opposite, "You're never too
old to try new things." As Hanif Kureishi's story progresses, you
think, " Hmmm...There's no fool like an old fool."
Ironically and gratefully "The Mother" is anything but a cliche.
Roger Michell's film is an original, which only faintly mirrors
the plot of Mike Nichols' 1967 crowd-pleaser "The Graduate."
What's more, the women in the audience will cheer the idea that
a young man, so handsome that he could easily be a gigolo and
probably is, can indeed feel romantic love for a much older
woman. As the tale unfolds, we absorb what Michell and
Kureishi are doing: in this very British movie, they're at once
exposing the selfishness of a favorite American target, the
(emotionally frigid) yuppies, while positing an intriguing and
boldly graphic existential philosophy.
"The Mother" is a coming-of-age story in which the sixty-
something May, having apparently not emerged like so many
teens and Gen-X's at the proper time in life, believes that it's
now her turn to blossom. Running into the vigorously
handsome Darren (Daniel Craig), a builder who is fixing her
son's conservatory, she becomes as smitten as a bobby-soxer.
Soon the woman, who believes she has not yet started living,
invites the man who is some thirty years her junior into a spare
room where they consummate their unusual liaison.
"The Mother" is so well photographed by Alwin Kuchler and so
exquisitely acted by the ensemble and particularly Anne Reid,
that an audience member would have to be pretty thick upstairs
not to read the emotions May's joy in finding a potent mate after
years of taking care of her ill and dull husband, Darren's
projection of a sensitive man who loves his autistic child, and
the off-the-wall hysteric Paula who, in her own way, is a
reflection of her mum ("What did I ever do in life?" "What am I
good at?") True enough, mothers can envy their young
daughters, and perhaps even daughters can find reasons to be
jealous of their parents (which is probably why so many high-
profile politicians have children who get into trouble with the
law). "The Mother," which portrays those destructive emotions,
is a gem, which begins with an anarchic visit by the old folks to
their children, showing us the relative indifference of grown
people to their parents and their own children to their
grandparents ("Where are my presents?" asks the little one.)
While a May-December make that a May-Darren relationship--
may be unusual there should be scarcely a soul in the audience
who cannot relate to the sort of family dysfunction, while the
older members in the theater will see their own somewhat lonely
selves in May's dead-on portrayal.
Both writer and director are in their element when you
consider that Kanif Kureishi's gems are "Sammy and Rosie Get
Laid" and "My Beautiful Launderette" while Roger Michell has
garnered fame for "Notting Hill" and the fine period piece,
"Persuasion."
When toward the end of her life, a gravely ill Katharine
Hepburn was asked by an interviewer who obviously believed
that one his elders should be virtually worshiped for the wisdom
they'd accumulated whether she found senior citizen status had
much to offer. "Not a damn thing," was her reply. If you don't
believe her, you'll want to see "The Mother."
Not Yet Rated. 111 minutes.(c) 2004 by Harvey Karten at
Harveycritic@cs.com
========== X-RAMR-ID: 37516 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 1269505 X-RT-TitleID: 10002039 X-RT-SourceID: 570 X-RT-AuthorID: 1123 X-RT-RatingText: A-
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