Movie Summary of Mother and Child by Michael The Moviegoer.
MOTHER AND CHILD = ****
“Reunions”
The extraordinary adoption drama “Mother And Child” will leave you haunted by your own could-have-beens, might-have-beens and what ifs, just as these characters must deal with their own bittersweet consequences of unplanned pregnancies.
The richly-layered multiple storylines intersect in the same way that made “Amorres Perros” and “Babel” so rewarding. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu directed those films, and coincidentally serves as Executive Producer on “Mother And Child” for writer/director Rodrigo Garcia.
The film’s ensemble cast includes triumphant performances from Annette Bening, Naomi Watts and Kerry Washington. Supporting performances by Samuel L. Jackson and Jimmy Smits are equally effective.
The main plot involves Naomi Watts as a cold-as-steel lawyer who was given up for adoption by her teenage mom. Thirty-seven years later Annette Bening plays the mother as though a chunk of her own soul has been torn out of her. It’s an awards-worthy performance in that Bening must start out playing cold, bitter and difficult, yet eventually gain our sympathy. She is consumed with regret.
The story unfolds as Bening and Watts attempt to seek each other out. This takes us down a criss-crossing path trying to connect the dots in hopes that the big reunion moment will finally arrive.
Although it’s still early in the year, I hope “Mother And Child” is remembered six months from now during awards season. The screenplay almost certainly deserves a nomination, as do the actors who each deliver some of the strongest work of their careers.
DVD Double Feature: In addition to the previously mentioned films, a lesser-known film directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is the brilliant “21 Grams” which also stars Naomi Watts, as well as Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro. The fragmented storyline and intertwining plots involve Watts losing her husband and kids in a tragic hit-and-run accident. Penn is the recipient of Watts’ organ-donor husband’s heart, and he becomes obssessed with finding her and avenging her family’s tragedy.
Michael The Moviegoer
