Watch Mother For Free

Excellent adaptation.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Mother (1996): Dir: Albert Brooks / Cast: Albert Brooks, Debbie Reynolds, Rob Morrow, Lisa Kudrow, Spencer Klein: Like many Albert Brooks comedies there is a seemingly realistic and normal setting until we begin to relate to its exaggeration. Here he presents a film about understanding our own mothers. He plays a struggling writer who just went through a divorce. In an attempt to put his life back together he moves back home. Amusing setup travels a rather sitcom appeal but not without conviction. Brooks has a keen ear for humour and dialogue. As director he previously gained acclaim for Lost in America, which seems to be on a broader scope than what he is given here. He and Debbie Reynolds have fantastic comic chemistry together particularly in a scene at a grocery store. This is Reynolds on screen for the first time in two decades. He will come to adjust to his past and face his future but not without humorous forceful jabs from mother who wants her son to get on with life and move out. Supporting roles are unfortunately not as broad or interesting. Rob Morrow plays the son she favors but he is mainly seen through a computer kissing ass. Lisa Kudrow is also featured but this film belongs to the leads whom uphold it nicely. With these complaints aside there are many laughs throughout with a superb message about relationships and where it all begins at home. Score: 8 / 10

Albert Brooks is regarded by many in the know as one of the great comics of our generation. But his style is very personal and quirky, which is why he remains a "cult comedian" even after writing, directing, and/or appearing in movies for over 20 years. (His most famous role is probably his Oscar-nominated turn in James L. Brooks's BROADCAST NEWS, where he played a brilliant reporter who failed as an on-air newscaster because he perspired "more than Nixon.") Brooks's characters tend to be anti-heroes who are so obsessed with being politically correct and "doing the right thing" that it never occurs to them how obnoxious they are. (In Brooks's REAL LIFE [1979], he played a documentary filmmaker who nearly drove his subjects to nervous breakdowns.) But in MOTHER, Brooks has made a noble effort to meet his audience more than halfway, and he's definitely worth the trouble.Brooks plays John Henderson, a science-fiction writer who begins the movie in the middle of arranging his second divorce. (Trying to look at the bright side, John says of his ex, "She brought great furniture to the marriage.") Doing some navel-gazing, John concludes that his problems with women stem from unresolved issues with his mother (Debbie Reynolds, in a welcome return to the movies). So he informs his mother that he wants to move back in with her as an "experiment." The experimental situation includes returning his old room to its 1970's splendor, complete with tacky posters and a stereo blasting at all hours of the night.John's mother has been widowed and on her own for many years, and she doesn't take kindly to the thought of re-raising her son. But she gives as good as she gets, feeding John old food from her freezer (the freezer burn, she reasons, is a "protective coating"), and informing total strangers of John's failures with women. Adding to the mix is John's brother (Rob Morrow of TV's "Northern Exposure"), who thinks Mom likes him better but is in for a few surprises.Jackie Gleason used to say that he did a "nudge act"--you could watch blustery Ralph Kramden, nudge your partner, and say, "That's my Uncle Charlie." I haven't known anyone who's seen MOTHER who didn't nudge me or anyone nearby and recognize themselves in the movie's relationships. The scene where John returns home is nothing but a prolonged take of John and his mother eating and squabbling in the kitchen, and it's probably the funniest piece of film that was shown in any theater in 1996.I hope I haven't made MOTHER sound like a dark, brooding comedy or a sappy sitcom about a grown-up kid and his mom. It's the most intelligent sort of comedy--the kind that goes for truth instead of snappy one-liners. All of the performances are believable and some kind of wonderful, and Brooks's screenplay (co-written with his long-time partner, Monica Johnson) proves that Brooks continues to be a little-known national treasure.

Albert Brooks plays the son.Debbie Reynolds plays the mother.The son, science fiction writer John Henderson, moves back home to his mother Beatrice Henderson.And the reason this grown up man does so is because he feels like he should do so after two failed marriages.He thinks after that experience his chances for a successful relationship would be better.Albert Brooks directed, wrote and acted the lead in Mother (1996).He's terrific in the movie as is the legendary Debbie Reynolds playing the mother.Rob Morrow, who's still very well remembered as Dr.Joel Fleischman in the great 90's series Northern Exposure, does very good job in this movie playing the brother Jeff.Lisa Kudrow of Friends does a small part as Linda, the blonde John goes out with.She's just wonderful.Paul Collins is brilliant playing the Lawyer.John C. McGinley plays Carl in the movie and he's very good.Mother is a terrific movie that combines comedy and drama in a fine way.It's mighty funny when John makes his room look like exactly the same it looked like when he originally lived there.I think we all should take trips to the past every now and then.Maybe we learn something about ourselves.

I normally don't like Albert Brooks comedies because his humor is subtle, and sometimes, so sarcastic that it seems to me, that he tries too hard. He often comes off like a gigantic dufus who's every character, is always the over-looked, but honest and quite nice guy (see Broadcast News). Here, he is once again, the same character. However, in watching this movie with my folks, I found it to be quite a funny little comedy about a grown man who tries to connect with his mother. Brooks plays John, a writer who is recently divorced. Suffering from writer's block, probably due to his recent 'problems,' he decides that he needs some sort of emotionally reinvigorating experience. One in which he is in search of "something," but he doesn't really know what it is. Sort of like, he'll know it when it happens.He goes to spend some time with his widowed mother, Beatrice, played by the lovely Debbie Reynolds. They seem like exact opposites, she is timid, and somewhat flaky. He is rather pushy, and often, sarcastic. She appears more provincial; he comes off as more modern. It doesn't seem like they're related at first, because they're so different. What might've started as a desire to find some inspriation to write by cooling off from a divorce, becomes a 360 drive to reconnect with his mother, and work out their innocuous differences in personality, outlook, humor, and so forth, until mother and son finally understand one another. This may not be clear to either intially that this will eventually be the ends to the vacation.Rob Morrow plays John's equally annoying brother, a "mama's boy" type who frequently contacts Beatrice, trying to get her to be more modern and everything else like John does, but at the same time, not trying so hard to force it on her, and also, not trying like John to resolve anything laden in their relationship that may be troubling them. Though, it seems to be suggested that there is a slight "Oedepis Complex." But, Rob Morrow is only a subplot, and kind of an aggravating character at that. Beatrice seems so pleasant, and so well...motherly. The strange reformations that John and his mother take on are quite amusing. The bit, for example, in the beginning when John first arrives at his mother's house, and she doesn't seem to have anything he likes to eat. Or, when they go to the mall together, and he tries to stop her from always feeling obligated to explain everything to strangers (like her son is a middle aged divorced man with writer's block). It's really cute. According to the trivia, Nancy Reagan was considered for Debbie Renynolds' role, which would've probably been played wonderfully by her. Some of things that Reynolds's (like the restaurant scene) is hilarious with the cursing and all of that as she becomes impatient with her son John's wanting to change her every moment. Basically, the whole movie is Albert Brooks and Debbie Reynolds. John McGinnley and Lisa Kudrow show up for a minute role as the best friend and blind date (respectively). It might be worth watching for older audiences. I watched it with my folks, and they really seemd to enjoy it (they usually don't like Albert Brooks movies, either). It's worth a try.