Although each has experienced it from a different perspective, Karen, Elizabeth and Lucy share a strong common bond: adoption. Their individual journeys are meshed together with feelings of hatred, betrayal and loss. However, it is the bond of love that will allow them to power through life's unexpected detours and road bumps. At the end, we see a true representation of real-life- one that isn't sugar coated or exaggerated. It is real, eye-opening, and humane. It is an emotional, powerful story that could have been ripped from the front pages of your local newspaper, containing the headline "˜Mother and Child.'
At the core of this heart-wrenching story is a powerful script, written by director Rodrigo Garcia. Following a series of relationships, all taking place at different moments in a person's life, we get to see just how important it is to be happy. The dialogue is authentic, especially when it comes to Naomi Watts' Elizabeth, and the brutal honesty that exists in all three of our protagonists makes for some great character building moments.
As in real life, situations that weren't originally intended to be are often funny. I credit Bening, Watts and Washington for stirring that up. I occasionally found myself uneasily chuckling, glad for a slight detour from the otherwise soap-opera style drama that persists throughout most of the film.
Annette Bening and Naomi Watts deserve consideration come award season, and I hope that the film's early release date won't hurt either of their chances. Watts' stern, cold and somewhat slutty Elizabeth deserves a film all her own. She loves control, both in the office and the bedroom, and when she flirts with disaster, the road her life takes is nothing like you would expect.
On the other hand, Bening, who makes a drastic emotional transformation during the film, is the best of show for her take on Karen, an aging single woman who is still living in the past. Her bitter answers to everything make her an instant character to hate, though by film's end you find yourself rooting for her success and happiness.
Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Jimmy Smits, Marc Blucas, LaTanya Richardson, Tatyana Ali and Amy Brenneman round out an amazing ensemble. I am not sure how Garcia did it, but he seemed to find a noteworthy talent to fill even the smallest of roles. Unlike He's Just Not That Into You and Valentine's Day, the cast here didn't seem overbearing. You saw yourself in them, making the star-power relatable, not just distracting.
But Mother and Child was not perfect, not at all. In fact, I have a few grips pertaining to Garcia's on-screen perception of men. Very few men in the film seemed worthy of the women they were courting. At least two were kind and gentle, though their relationships were often an afterthought compared to the cheating husband and bitter divorce that resulted in a man not accepting his wife the way she was.
There were also too many characters flying in and out of the stories to really keep track of them all. Many supporting players disappeared without much of a mention, while others came and went with each passing season. This unfortunately brings me to another point: time. Anytime a story covers as much ground as this one, you must be assisted in terms of how much time has passed. Pregnancy is nine months, so when someone meets a six -month-pregnant college student, you don't expect her to give birth at the same time as a newly pregnant woman (at least not without a little explaining). Add in that it looks as if an infant can walk, talk, and "˜socialize' at the ripe age of six months, and you, Mr. Garcia, have a bit of explaining to do.
Otherwise, the film is a rich portrait of love between a mother and her daughter. For that reason alone, I feel that the title is misleading. However, I am willing to overlook that thanks to the powerful performances from both Bening and Watts, as well as the unique and highly effective direction style of Garcia. The film isn't for everyone, but if you love indie dramas, it is one of the best thus far in 2010!
