Fantastic Fest 2010 Review: Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day (2011)
Fantastic Fest 2010
Directed by: Darren Lynn Bousman
Starring: Rebecca De Mornay, Jamie King, Shawn Ashmore, Deborah Ann Woll, Frank Grillo
Review by: Britt Hayes
Mother’s Day, Darren Lynn Bousman’s remake of the 1980 Troma classic is a legitimate remake: it takes the same basic story of the first, updates the material, gives us something new while paying homage to something old, but unfortunately falls short when it strives to take itself more seriously.
Beth and Daniel Sohapi are having a nice party in the basement of their new home with six of their closest friends, who also happen to be couples. Beth and Daniel obviously have some marital issues, but they fake it really well. The party seems to be going smoothly, until the Koffin brothers – Ike, Addley, and Johnny – burst in, carrying a shot and bleeding Johnny and a sawed-off shotgun. They’ve just robbed a bank, been swindled by their partner, and are now on the run, taking refuge in their mother’s house. There’s one problem: this isn’t their mother’s house anymore. Mother lost the house in foreclosure and Beth and Daniel snatched it up, thinking they’d gotten a great deal.
Ike and Addley spring into action, holding everyone in the house hostage, and forcing the resident doctor George to tend to their dying brother. It isn’t long before their sister Lydia shows up with Mother. Mother is the ultimate matriarch, running the family with a cold, steely gaze and a firm hand. She approaches the hostages with diplomacy, apologizing for any brutality they’ve endured at the hands of her rascal sons. But now there’s a bigger problem: Ike and Addley swear they sent Mother money over the last several months, which should have been sufficient to pay the mortgage. Since Mother hasn’t been living there, someone must have been taking the money, but who? Beth? Daniel? Both of them?
The brothers are relentless and apathetic in their violence towards the hostages, while Mother dictates their every move. She is calculating, icy, and at times almost humorous in her attempts at manners and caregiving. Mother is also extremely clever and manipulative, finding the weaknesses in every victim, particularly Beth and Daniel. Once she discovers how fragile their marriage has become and their sad history, she quickly gets to work using the information against them to get what she wants.
Lydia is the one question mark of the family, and George sees her as someone he could use to his advantage against the Koffin family. Still young enough to question authority, and more open-minded than the rest (possibly because men are more loyal to their mothers), Lydia slowly opens up to George in a series of short encounters throughout the film. Sadly, Lydia is the most interesting character and we just don’t see enough of her.
The best performances in the film come from the women: Rebecca De Mornay, Jamie King, and Deborah Ann Woll as Mother, Beth, and Lydia, respectively. De Mornay is especially phenomenal as Mother, and one glance from her chilling blue eyes says more than any line of dialogue she’s given. It’s unfortunate that most of the other actors supporting her are turning in B-level performances. At times it feels like she’s acting in a different film entirely. Shawn Ashmore also gives a rather good turn as George.
Mother’s Day is filled with issues. While the premise is simple enough, the film becomes too complex. There are too many characters, most of which are unlikable – primarily the coupling of Briana Evigan’s Annette and Tony Nappo’s Dave – with extreme, cliché personalities. It becomes hard to empathize with characters who bicker and make poor decisions. Every rebellious uprising is a poorly thought-out scramble in which I found myself almost rooting for the villains, but just like the couples, they too were over-the-top caricatures. By the end of the final climax (of which there were many), I was begging to be put out of my misery.
After the film, Bousman informed the audience that there was a five hour cut of the film, and there were entire characters that were in the house and had been cut out completely. While the removal of these characters was probably for the best, I had no problem believing he had a five hour cut of the film. I don’t think Bousman knew what sort of movie he wanted to make. Mother’s Day is a schizophrenic film, going from serious and emotional to corny and low-brow in a matter of seconds. We never make connections with anyone, even when Bousman really wants us to… even when I really wanted to. Instead of sticking to a solid structure, Bousman chooses to weigh down his film with unnecessary characters and a busy plot.
I didn’t outright hate the film. There are good moments, and a few great performances. The violence is well done until the last scene, where it becomes cartoonish. Bousman can’t decide if he wants to make a mature film from cheesy source material, or pay the source material lip-service with bloody homage.
Magnolia has already purchased Mother’s Day for distribution, and I think Bousman should take this opportunity to re-cut the film. There’s a good film in here somewhere, but I’m not sure Bousman can find it.
