THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 30, 1997 TAG: 9701300030
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: 73 lines
THE PRODUCERS proudly claim that ``no mothers were harmed during the filming of `Mother.' ''
Starring the unsinkable and newly disciplined Debbie Reynolds, ``Mother'' is just about the most sly, mischievous and somewhat subtle comedy you're likely to get in awhile. It takes a territory that is seldom visited by movies (the relationship between mothers and sons) and has a jolly, but not often sweet, time with it.
It is, to put it mildly, the comeback of the movie year for the legendary Reynolds, who until recently was married to Roanoke real estate developer Richard Hamlett.
Reynolds, who last received an Academy Award nomination for ``The Unsinkable Molly Brown,'' is sure to be in the running this year - and deservedly so. She's always been an extroverted, delightful performer, but now she's an actress. Little of the bubbly Debbie surfaces in the personage of Beatrice, the self-sufficient, independent mom she plays here. It is a multilayered, disciplined performance, and the Oscar people should set aside their traditional reluctance about comedies and give it serious thought.
Albert Brooks, who starred, directed and wrote, is one of those sour comics who has a jaundiced eye toward the world. Those who love his brand of comedy are wild about him. The others don't quite get him.
He's largely regarded as the Woody Allen of the West Coast. His ``Lost in America,'' ``Defending Your Life'' and ``Real Life'' are regarded as classics by his followers. It is a trademark, though, that he seldom goes for belly laughs. He tries, rather, for little chuckles of recognition.
Here, in a story assumed to be at least partly autobiographical, he plays a marginally successful science fiction writer who has just gone through his second divorce. Thinking that his non-success with women just might trace back to his failure to really understand his mother, he moves back home. He fixes his old teen bedroom exactly as it was in the old days, and he attempts, yet again, to understand Mom.
The surprising thing is that Mom isn't so wild about his coming back home. Mothers, the film claims, don't just go away and hide in a closet when the kids are grown. Beatrice has a boyfriend, and she isn't quite ready to become a mother again. She's quite independent but feels compelled to act motherly when sonny boy is around. She pretends she is more helpless than she is (a quality that is brought out in subtle terms by Reynolds' fine performance).
Beatrice, though, does have infuriating foibles. She freezes everything. She claims that the disgusting crust of prickly freeze atop things is actually ``protective ice.'' Among other things, she doesn't understand why her son insists on being a vegetarian.
She can't quite handle modern gimmicks like ``call waiting'' on the telephone.
To make things worse, there is another son - a successful one, played by Rob Morrow (from ``Quiz Show'' and TV's ``Northern Exposure''). This loudmouth shows up regularly to be fawned over by Mother, who thinks he's wonderful because he makes all that money and has a family and all the other trappings of the herd. She often introduces Brooks' character as ``my other son.''
It's a generational sparring match - and it's delightful.
Reynolds immediately goes to the top of the sentimental favorite list for this year's best actress Oscar. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by PARAMOUNT
Debbie Reynolds and Albert Brooks engage in a generational sparring
match as mother and son in ``Mother.''
Graphic
MOVIE REVIEW
``Mother''
Cast: Debbie Reynolds, Albert Brooks, Rob Morrow
Director: Albert Brooks
MPAA rating: PG-13 (brief language, sexual humor)
Mal's rating: four stars