Review: Mother and Child

Plus, enter to win a poster autographed by cast members!!!

By Lauren Besser
Published: May 5th, 2010 | 4:35pm

Mother and Child tells three women’s stories on all sides of adoption. The all-mighty Annette Bening commands the film as Karen, a 50-year-old woman, crippled by the memory of a child she gave up at age 14. She is visibly trapped by her guilt and cannot define herself outside of that event. We witness her dreams, encounter her flashbacks and listen to unsent letters to a daughter she doesn’t know.

Elizabeth (Naomi Watts) is a fierce attorney who moves through life without attachment. Her adopted parents are not in her life and the only place she calls home is the very spot she stands. Having accepted her solitary state as an emancipated teen, Elizabeth is unburdened by loneliness. She barely minds her inability to relate to others and only shows humanity through sexual mischief.

It’s pretty easy to assume these two are, in fact, mother and child simply because of the set up, but there are also signs in their personalities. Both women are cold from hanging onto fabricated realities and blinded to the choice of letting go. Karen cannot stand her housekeeper‘s child simply because she is one, and Elizabeth destroys men in her path with no regard for the aftermath. Even when her handsome and kind boss, Paul (Samuel L. Jackson), falls in love with her, she turns a cold cheek. What’s not clear is how Lucy (Kerry Washington), a tragically infertile vision of motherhood, fits into the picture aside from her desperate attempts to keep herself and her marriage together with an adopted child.

Writer-director Rodrigo Garcia patches scenes from each woman’s life together to tell the story. He captures their grief just as well as the weighted sunny air of Los Angeles. We watch the characters navigate through love and self-preservation as a web between them slowly develops. Each is locked in the self she defines solely by adoption and then rocked by loss of control. In each case, loss of control incites change.

The drama is not so heavy you feel like your popcorn is turning to stone in your belly. There’s humor, but it’s just nestled deep in the character’s faults—Lucy’s frantic and paranoid nagging of her husband or Elizabeth’s shocking power trips. But the most laughs are won from Karen’s frozen-solid interactions with love interest, Paco (Jimmy Smits).

Unfortunately the story goes from deep and honest to predictable by the end. The women ultimately find release and redemption, but not without a big Hollywood bow wrapped around it. The characters are so strong in their troubles at first that it’s hard to believe they change so much in so little time. When the women’s far-fetched associations become the catalyst for the plot instead of their daily struggles, the film fizzles. What’s more interesting are the characters’ individual experiences, not the cheesy connections binding the three together.

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**CONTEST: Win a poster autographed by the cast of Mother and Child!!!!**

Mother and Child opens in New York and Los Angeles on May 7, 2010. To celebrate, we're giving away an official poster, pictured above, from the film, signed by cast members.

To enter, create a profile with your email address and leave a comment below or send an e-mail to feedback@venuszine.com with your name, address, and phone number. One winner will be chosen at random and notified on May 21, 2010. Contest entrants are limited to United States residents.