Mother *** (1996, Debbie Reynolds, Albert Brooks) – Classic Movie Review 1423

Debbie Reynolds is ideally cast as Beatrice Henderson, the mother from hell in star/co-writer/director Albert Brooks’s entertaining 1996 comedy.

She has a successful but middle-aged science fiction writer son (Brooks), who moves back in to live with her while sorting out the problems of his twice-divorced life. The son’s weird idea is that, perplexed by two failed marriages and while finalising his second divorce, coming to terms with his mom will improve his chances for a successful relationship with a woman in the future by helping him understand what went wrong in his past relationships. Creepily, he occupies the same bedroom he had as a child.

Reynolds and Brooks are a terrific show together in this funny, quirky, appealing comedy. Rob Morrow, Laura Weekes, Lisa Kudrow and John C McGinley co-star.

Mother was filmed on location in and around the Sausalito, Greenbrae and Tiburon areas, with additional shooting in San Francisco. It’s the highest-grossing Brooks-directed film to date, with $19million earned at the box office. And it won the most awards of Brooks-directed films. Brooks and co-writer Monica Mcgowan Johnson won the New York Film Critics Circle Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay. Reynolds won a Golden Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1423

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