The Mother Review

"THE MOTHER" reviews

Movie

THE MOTHER

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2005-10-25 19:12:18

Provider

MRIB

Review

Director Roger Michell takes a break from the Hollywood machine with this melodrama from the pen of screenwriter Hanif Kureishi.

May (Anne Reid) and Toots (Peter Vaughn) are down in London, visiting their grown-up children, when the unthinkable happens - Toots dies suddenly from a heart attack and May finds herself alone. Rather than spend the rest of her days cooped up with only the four walls for company, May decides to move in first with her son Bobby and his family but soon opts for daughter Paula's place when it becomes obvious she's not exactly welcome at the former. Soon though she has embarked on a torrid affair with Darren (Daniel Craig), a young man who her daughter has her eye on.

Having recently been responsible for the likes of Changing Lanes and Notting Hill, the South African filmmaker scales down considerably here - and it works a treat. Similar in style to the films of Mike Leigh, this low-budget drama is a triumph which shows that Michell's foray to Tinseltown hasn't dulled his moviemaking edge.

What is probably most interesting about Michell's film is that it dares to address the issue of intergenerational relationships but from the largely taboo side where the woman is the older partner - afterall no-one bats an eyelid when Sean Connery gets the girl young enough to be his daughter at the end a film but would the reaction be the same if Judi Dench strolled off into the sunset with Colin Farrell?

There are moments when Kureishi's script threatens to overwhelm proceedings but Michell's experience with the author's work (he directed the TV take on Kureishi's Buddha Of Suburbia) keeps things under control making this an astutely observed and well-executed project.

Copyright © MRIB 2005.