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MOTHERHOOD

 ABOUT THE MOVIE

Genre: Comedy
Starring: Uma Thurman, Anthony Edwards, Minnie Driver
Director: Katherine Dieckmann
Rating: PG
Year Made: 2009

 


 SPECIAL FEATURES

- Interviews with Uma Thurman, Anthony Edwards, Minnie Driver and director Katherine Dieckmann
- Audio Commentary with Katherine Dieckmann and producer Rachel Cohen

 


 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Languages: English
Subtitles: English/Chinese
Aspect Ratio: 16x9
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Running Time: 1 hr 34 mins
Region Code: 3
Distributor: InnoF
orm Media

 

 

SYNOPSIS:

Raising kids is never easy. Eliza, a stay-at-home mom of two, hilariously finds this out in seemingly endless day where she must plan a birthday party, deal with her scatter-brained husband, save her car from being towed, and write an essay for a parenting magazine before the fast-approaching deadline. That's Motherhood!

MOVIE REVIEW:  

Uma Thurman hasn’t had a lot of luck at the box office lately. Her last three films before this latest- “My Super Ex-Girlfriend”, “The Life before Her Eyes” and “The Accidental Husband”- have all somehow managed to find their way into the doldrums. And to make matters worse, this latest “Motherhood” gained notoriety for grossing a grand total of $133 during its opening weekend in the U.K.- which translates to about 12 people watching it (granted that it only opened in one cinema).

Has it really come to this for the Oscar-nominated actress of Pulp Fiction? Is “Motherhood” indeed the dreck that it appears to be? This reviewer doesn’t have an answer for the first question; but at least for the second, he can tell you that “Motherhood” isn’t as bad as it seems. Well, barely. It’s the kind of the movie you won’t still be disappointed if you go in with zero expectations, but don’t expect to be pleasantly surprised.

Written and directed by Katherine Dieckmann, “Motherhood” is set in a day in the life of a New York City full-time housewife, Eliza Welsh, whose one mammoth task of the day is to organise a birthday party for her six-year old daughter Clara. In between, she has to send Clara to school, take her younger son Lucas and the incontinent dog out, collect Clara’s birthday cake which has her name spelt wrong, and try to finish a 500-word essay on the subject of motherhood for a magazine.

If all that sounds minutiae, it really, truly is. Dieckmann’s intent of making this dramedy is to portray accurately the struggles and challenges that a full-time mother goes through day by day- and to a large extent, she has achieved her goal. But no thanks to its authenticity, “Motherhood” itself feels like a struggle, a challenge even, to sit through, simply because the events that Dieckmann has surrounded Eliza with are too trivial and inconsequential even to actually inspire much interest.

Do we need to see Eliza trying to juggle more things than she can carry? Do we need to see her rush for a parking spot? Do we need to see how she argues with a passerby who is indignant that she picks up her dog poo? And most of all, do we need to see a full minute of Eliza dancing to the tune of some 80s hippie song? Apparently so, because Dieckmann dwells on all of this- just without the knack of finding the humour in these everyday scenes to make them more interesting than watching paint dry.

The best thing Dieckmann has going for her is Uma Thurman’s performance. Glammed down to play the bespectacled mid-40s Eliza, Thurman disappears in a role that proves that she is not just capable of over-the-top colourful roles like those in Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill. Unfortunately, her talent is sorely wasted in a film that meanders and meanders for about 90 minutes before it ends. For fans of Thurman though, the consolation is that the actress still has what it takes to carry a movie- she just needs the right vehicle to make a comeback. Let’s hope that comes around pretty soon.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Audio Commentary with director Katherine Dieckmann and producer Rachel Cohen - Both Dieckmann and Cohen don’t sound particularly excited talking about their film. Rachel, in particular, is absolutely useless on this commentary.

Interviews with Uma Thurman, Anthony Edwards, Minnie Driver and writer/director Katherine Dieckmann - Only Thurman sounds like she’s mildly interested in the film, the others all seem to have recognised this for the turkey it is.

AUDIO/VISUAL:


You won’t get much from the back speakers even though the audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. Image is sharp and detailed, preserving the colourful palette of the film.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING:



Review by Gabriel Chong

Posted on 22 April 2010

 
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This review is made possible with the kind support from InnoForm Media


 

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