Mother (1996)
A mildly amusing and warm movie about a middle-aged man who returns to his old house to live with his mom. A jealous and over-achieving brother gets in the way a little, to some light comedy, but mostly it's the growing awkward relationship of mother and son that makes the movie.
In a way it is Debbie Reynolds (as the mother) and not Albert Brooks (as the main son) who dominates, and lifts it up a little. She's come a long way from the breakthrough 45 years earlier of "Singin' in the Rain" and other 1950s classics, and she still has a kind of innocent warmth on screen. In fact, you expect at first she might be a monster or a manipulator, but she's oddly straight forward and exactly the therapy the son needs.
There is a lack of real conflict to the plot, however. And any butting of heads or the big twist in the story (relating to their ambitions as authors) seem contrived. An opportunity was lost (or avoided) in trying to make something gel in dramatic, human terms. But it's all in an effort for some easygoing laughs, and some irony.
Faint praise here isn't mean to quite condemn the movie, but it's true, this isn't ever going to be a great one, nor a flop. It might be attractive mostly to people who like either of the main actors.
There is a weird (and fun) re-writing of the Paul Simon song "Mrs. Robinson" (and sung by some very good Simon and Garfunkel imitators). Add that to the Alfa Romeo driven by Brooks, and there is a slight reference to "The Graduate" built in, though I'm not sure it really is meant to go very far.
But then, nothing in this movie goes very far. Just perhaps for some far enough.
A mildly amusing and warm movie about a middle-aged man who returns to his old house to live with his mom. A jealous and over-achieving brother gets in the way a little, to some light comedy, but mostly it's the growing awkward relationship of mother and son that makes the movie.
In a way it is Debbie Reynolds (as the mother) and not Albert Brooks (as the main son) who dominates, and lifts it up a little. She's come a long way from the breakthrough 45 years earlier of "Singin' in the Rain" and other 1950s classics, and she still has a kind of innocent warmth on screen. In fact, you expect at first she might be a monster or a manipulator, but she's oddly straight forward and exactly the therapy the son needs.
There is a lack of real conflict to the plot, however. And any butting of heads or the big twist in the story (relating to their ambitions as authors) seem contrived. An opportunity was lost (or avoided) in trying to make something gel in dramatic, human terms. But it's all in an effort for some easygoing laughs, and some irony.
Faint praise here isn't mean to quite condemn the movie, but it's true, this isn't ever going to be a great one, nor a flop. It might be attractive mostly to people who like either of the main actors.
There is a weird (and fun) re-writing of the Paul Simon song "Mrs. Robinson" (and sung by some very good Simon and Garfunkel imitators). Add that to the Alfa Romeo driven by Brooks, and there is a slight reference to "The Graduate" built in, though I'm not sure it really is meant to go very far.
But then, nothing in this movie goes very far. Just perhaps for some far enough.