The Mother (2003)

Fine condition, but somewhat expurgated version

Arrived in "as new" shape, just as advertised by the seller. No gripes there. But, this version had been stripped of a particularly steamy scene (viewed in a previously rented DVD) which is one of the reasons that I had ordered a copy for myself. There was no indication that the DVD had been edited to remove scene(s).

Other than that, this is a particularly riveting story about family dynamics, including a sexually repressed senior family member who is widowed and who longs for male affection, thus upsetting the rest of the family. I recommend the movie, though I would recommend the full version even more, that is, if you are not easily "squeamed" by overt sexual performance. April 13, 2008

Not your typical mother!

This was a little different - she's not your typical mother! She's not rich or sexy, etc. - just human. Good film. February 22, 2008

i'm still queasy

i became a daniel craig fan after road to perdition, but didn't find him attractive until casino royale, and then i had to search out his other movies. this choice of role was heartbreakingly difficult to understand. it's awful enough to see an older actor in bed with a young, lissome woman, but -- and this is sexist, i know and i'm sorry!-- i was totally turned off by daniel craig and a woman who looks every bit of her age, plus some b/c of the recent tragedy of losing her husband. this is no sophia loren, folks; anne reid plays someone who could literally be somebody's "mother." dowdy; frumpy; with a body like a sack of potatoes, some protruding this way, others going that way (so kudos to the costume designer), this character was simply too matronly, too sexless to be attractive to anyone under 60. as a woman, i honestly hope the only person who makes overtures to me when i am 60+ is my husband! and perhaps i'm just too vain, but the idea of being with a man half my age would just magnify my insecurities. i kept wondering if "the mother" weren't half-cracked just to disrobe. the sex scenes are frank, sometimes painfully so, and it was just too much for me after a while. i fast-forwarded to the end just to see if daniel craig (darrin) stayed with the daughter or used the mother for her money, traveling to another country with her. August 2, 2007

The Mother

This is a good alternative to the bombard of Hollywood films. It potrays beutifully and naturally the meaning of love and the loneliness of the elderly. I live in one of the Asian countries where the famili members still have strong emotional bound to one another. Watching this film, I came to realize how lonely one's life can be when one grows old in the so called modern countries. Because things are so modernized, things have got so mechanical, human relation is no exception. This happens to the mother in this film. It is so touchy to see when the mother and the father come to visit her son's family, everybody is so busy with his/her business, everybody is in a rush and in the end the two of them have to stay in a quiet house with nobody around. Their visit is not strong enough to hold people from minding his/her business.
Her being attracted to the young carpenter is a sign that she actually needs attention and that she is lonely rather than the raw 'love' between a man and a woman.
I recommend this film to those who love to watch a film about love, family and relationship. March 13, 2007

Old Girl Gone Wild

Ah, yes: The frailty of the human condition. One moment a domiciled, husband-doting grandmother; the next, a moaning lover coupling with a man half her age. Director Roger Michell reminds us we're all capable of behaving outside the box with his moody film, THE MOTHER.

Sixtysomething May (Anne Reid), recently widowed, decides to move to London to be closer to her two adult children. While getting closer to the kiddos--learning more about them, and herself--she finds herself physically attracted to a married carpenter (Daniel Craig, the new James Bond dude) who is her son's friend and who is also having an affair with her daughter (can a plot get any more tangled than that?). May throws caution to the wind and has an affair with the young man--an affair that definitely tweaks the "ick" factor, and subsequently turns her already fragile family upside down.

Reid plays her role robotically, unemotionally, while Craig's character is less than flattering. As a matter of fact, there isn't a flattering--or likeable--character in the entire film, yet the viewer is drawn into this dysfunctional mess just like a crowd rushing to a train wreck. THE MOTHER does indeed pay homage to the human condition, subtly pointing out its frailty at the same time.
--D. Mikels, Author, THE RECKONING February 10, 2007

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