Mother and Child (2009)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Rodrigo García

Writer (WGA):

Rodrigo García (written by)

Release Date:

2010 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A drama centered around three women: A 50-year-old woman, the daughter she gave up for adoption 35 years ago, and an African American woman looking to adopt a child of her own. |

Cast

Samuel L. Jackson	...	Paul
Naomi Watts	...	Elizabeth
Carla Gallo	...	Tracy
Annette Bening	...	Karen
David Morse	...	Tom
Kerry Washington	...	Lucy
Amy Brenneman	...	Dr. Stone
Marc Blucas	...	Steven
Tatyana Ali	...	Maria
Jimmy Smits	...	Paco
Cherry Jones	...	Sister Joanne
S. Epatha Merkerson	...	Ada
Brittany Robertson	...	Violet
David Ramsey	...	Joseph
Elpidia Carrillo	...	Sofia
Lisa Gay Hamilton	...	Leticia
Ahmed Best	...	Julian
Eileen Ryan	...	Nora
LaTanya Richardson	...	Carol
Gloria Garayua	...	Melissa
Lawrence Pressman	...	Dr. Morgan
Shareeka Epps	...	Ray
Simone Lopez	...	Christi
Sean Scarborough	...	Maria's Husband
Alexandria M. Salling	...	Young Karen
Maxine Hayden	...	Paul's Mother
Connor Kramme	...	Young Tom
Evette Cord	...	Agency Lawyer
Karen Graci	...	Nurse
Dawn Marie Deibert	...	Wedding Officiant
Juliette Amara	...	Ella
Brenda Ball	...	Paul's Niece

Also Known As:

Untitled Rodrigo García Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality, brief nudity, and language.

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

USA | Spain

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #45499)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Everest Entertainment

Trivia:

Despite playing mother and daughter on film, in reality Annette Bening is only 10 years older than Naomi Watts.

Pitch Perfect & Sensitively Directed

Caught this one at TIFF, and it was one of the best movies of the festival. Rodrigo Garcia directed "Nine Lives", which may be familiar to some audiences. That one was from 2005 and wove together a series of short vignettes. Garcia has a wonderful sensibility about portraying female characters in that one, and in "Mother & Child" he builds upon it even further as the movie centers around the theme of adoption and how it affects three adult women, played by Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, and Kerri Washington.

I suppose this will get the "chick flick" label upon it's release, but for any lover of good dramas with characters you can sink your teeth into, that shouldn't matter, and besides, when did it become unfashionable for grown men to see movies with attractive female stars in them? There isn't a false moment or a scene that doesn't ring true, and I found myself so involved in the particularities of all the characters we meet that it longer mattered to me what happened next, it was more interesting to just get inside the shoes and take a walk inside the lives of these characters, so well fleshed out by all the stars here. So many big movies from America often feature adults behaving like children, and so it's ultimately refreshing and quite moving to follow the characters in "Mother & Child" who are going through very adult problems and acting like adults throughout, even if sometimes they fall or crack or are flawed.

I think Bening and Watts, playing two very complicated and difficult women, should be nominated for Oscars. This movie takes material that could have been dumbed down and made into a TV movie of the week, but instead Rodrigo Garcia elevates the film by really listening to his characters. A wonderful movie, not just for women, but for all adults who like good movies.