Just in time for Mother’s Day (Coincidence? I think not.) comes a film that explores motherhood in an engrossing manner through the unique perspective of adoption.
Featuring a strong ensemble cast that includes Naomi Watts, Annette Bening, Kerry Washington, Jimmy Smits and Samuel L. Jackson, Mother and Child weaves an intriguing tale of three women whose lives are deeply impacted because of the decision each makes involving adoption.
Annette Bening is Karen, a single woman, who, as a teenage mom, gave up her baby. Though she knows nothing about her now grown daughter, Karen obsesses over her. She constantly writes to the child in a journal she keeps by the bedside. She’s always referencing her daughter to her mother Nora (Eileen Ryan) -- the only emotional attachment Karen allows herself. But Nora is bedridden, rapidly deteriorating, and it appears it’s only a matter of time before Karen will be completely alone.
Lucy (Kerry Washington) is a young, married woman anxious to have a child. When she and her husband Joseph (David Ramsey) learn they can’t conceive, the couple decides to explore adoption. Turning to Sister Joanne (Cherry Jones) and a private, Catholic adoption agency, the couple is matched with Ray (Shareeka Epps), a surly teen mother. Ray is determined to put them, especially Lucy, on trial before consenting to handing her baby over to.
Rounding out the trio is Elizabeth (Naomi Watts), a ruthlessly driven woman, completely consumed with her career as a high-powered lawyer. As she lands a position with a top Los Angeles firm, we learn that Elizabeth was given up for adoption. As a result, she fiercely avoids contact with others as much as humanly possible. The interaction she does have is usually sexual in nature. But her actions with her new boss Paul (Samuel Jackson) and the husband of the innocuous couple next door (Marc Blucas, Carla Gallo), force Elizabeth to face the thing she fears the most.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
I don’t want to go into too much detail as to what happens. The pleasure of Mother and Child is watching the plot unfold and the impact its twist and turns have on its characters. Writer/director Rodrigo Garcia (Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her) crafts a complex tale that explores this subject from a multitude of angles, pulling no emotional or dramatic punches along the way.
The three main roles are richly drawn, multifaceted and far from stock film characters. Karen is a bitter crank, ready to bite the head off of anyone with whom she comes in contact. When a new co-worker (Jimmy Smits) attempts to get closer to her, he encounters the mother of all cold shoulders. High-strung, eager to please, but not willing to suffer fools, Lucy’s pursuit of her goal is an emotional roller coaster ride. Elizabeth is just the opposite. Determined to keep her emotions in check, her goal is not to give anything away. But her aloofness and unbridled confidence is so appealing, especially when she shows it sexually, we can’t help but be drawn to her.
Bening, Washington and Watts all give powerful, intricately layered performances. They are ably supported by Smits, Jackson, Jones, Epps, Ryan and S. Epatha Merkerson, who plays Lucy’s mother, a force to be reckoned with all her own. Familiar faces pop up throughout the film. Look for Amy Brenneman, David Morse, Elizabeth Pena, LisaGay Hamilton, Michael Warren and Lawrence Pressmen, in brief, but memorable appearances.
Sure, Mother and Child is a chick flick and certain to appeal more to women than men. (Though there are a couple of scenes with Watts that should make any guy in the audience happy.) It’s also filled with enough laughs, drama, insight, intelligence and heart to make any man not afraid to get in touch with his feminine side -- if he has one.
Kerry Washington and
David Ramsey
Naomi Watts and
Samuel L. Jackson
