Mother's Day: Liebe ist kein Kinderspiel

Garry Marshall died this year after a very long career of feel goo films he wrote, directed, acted in, produced – and sometimes all simultaneously, both on television (The Odd Couple, Mork and Mindy, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley) and in movies (Beaches, Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride, The Other Sister, The Princess Diaries, Valentine's Day, New year's Eve, etc). He often worked with the same actors – a trusted bond of friendship. While MOTHER'S DAY my not be one of his best films, it completes his trilogy of holiday films and brings the usual warmth and keen observation of interpersonal relationships to play from a richly popular cast of fine actors.

Three generations come together in the week leading up to Mother's Day. Sandy (Jennifer Anniston), a divorcée who has two sons who tries to co-parent with her ex (Timothy Olyphant). But when her ex remarries a girl half her age (Shay Mitchell), she freaks out because she's spending time with her sons and doing things with them that she usually does. Her friend, Jesse (Kate Hudson) is surprised by her parents (Margo Martindale and Robert Pine) who show up unannounced and they discover who Jesse's Indian husband (Aasif Mandvi) is and he learns that she didn't tell them about him which prompts him to leave, And they also learn whom their other daughter Gabi (Sarah Chalke) Is married to Max (Cameron Esposito) in a lesbian marriage. Kristin (Britt Robertson) is a girl who has a boyfriend Zach (Jack Whitehall) and a child but her boyfriend wants them to go to the next level, marriage but she has unresolved issues which keeps her from taking the plunge and her boyfriend is uncertain how long he can wait. Things change a bit when Kristin discovers who her birth mother is…. Bradley (Jason Sudeikis) is a widower with two daughters, one of whom is a teenager and Bradley finds it hard to accept her new interests like boys and he still misses his wife. It all comes together at Mother's Day – time heals all things.

Also in the cast are Julia Roberts, Hector Elizondo, Anoush NeVart, Jennifer Garner, Jon Lovitz – and many others in small but significant cameos.

Watch for the pleasure of seeing fine actors get a little silly and for the pleasure Garry Marshall brought to the entertainment industry.

I loved it. My husband and I thoroughly laughed until my stomach hurt. This movie is very funny and has lots of funny tag lines to laugh about later. I don't get the rude reviews and the harsh comments. I thought it was very well done and a different twist. If you are super critical and everything offends you easily, this isn't the movie for you. But if you like a good clean movie that isn't filled with naked sex starved scenes you will enjoy it. It is nice sometimes not to get cussed out and see every body part on a person. Just good clean fun is enjoyable too. It has many judgmental aspects, but it's a comedy, get over yourself. People make things too deep. The critics are just that, too critical. They rip movies apart so much it's hard to please them.

This movie is funny and as a mother (sister and child), I loved it. My mother would have enjoyed it too. I will be recommending it to whomever wants a unique take on a movie. I thought it was going to be sappy and it wasn't. I laughed repeatedly, my husband did too and so did the entire theater. My sister and I went on a double date, loved by us all. Great movie.

Mother's Day had a very promising story which was ruined by utterly poor execution and a complete waste of acting talent which was loaded due to the casting of the movie.

Story (7/10): Well, nothing was so much wrong with the story. Four different lives, four different challenges and at some point of time, they cross the paths - and all of it is centered around the hullabaloo of Mother's Day. They all have their own theories and ideas for the big day but they end up doing almost nothing that they originally thought of - and that's where teeny tiny bit of the fun lies in the movie. A well conceptualized story though.

Acting (5/10): Acting is where this entire movie falls apart in spite of big names like Julia Roberts and Jennifer Anniston. Anniston still seems to be in that "Friends" zone with her dialog delivery. The expressions are off and doesn't seem to be in the character really, except for last few minutes in the climax. Julia Roberts holds pretty much a flat face throughout the movie. Jason Sudeiki was probably the only saving grace. The rest of the cast makes a decent attempt but aren't able to lift up the movie.

Direction (4/10): The direction of the movie is awful. Close to half of the movie misses the flow and the scenes look like stitched together as the director struggles to smoothly transition from one story to another. The screenplay is pathetic and isn't able to hold the audience more than few seconds. It is only at the end that things come together when the four characters converge. However, the overall execution of the movie "executes" the story. It just looks like the director suddenly realized that Mother's Day is arriving and he has to release a movie before that.

Overall (5/10): Poorly executed. Should give it a pass.

OK there are many negative reviews of this movie - I do not think it is meant to be an Oscar nominee. It is a movie about families with different needs/problems/real life issues and it is centered around Mother's Day. Just as Valentine's Day is a big favorite of millions of people - it did not get any Oscars - but it is a movie that people remember. Sometimes that is better. Three families with problems. A one year anniversary for a mother's death, a divorce, and sisters with secrets from parents. and a commitment issue woman wanting to know her birth mother. Of course things get smoothed out - but it was fan watching it all happen. It is move about real life and I appreciate that. The sound track is fun, the pratfalls are OK, but the stories are real. If you have been through a divorce - you will understand. Not a great movie but a believable one.

'MOTHER'S DAY': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

The last film of director Gary Marshall's career (before he passed away in July 2016), is another cheesy 'holiday themed' ensemble romcom (much like his previous two movies 'VALENTINE'S DAY' and 'NEWYEAR'S EVE'). This film revolves around the lives of multiple different mothers (and a single father), with intersecting stories, all set on the week before Mother's Day. It stars Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, Julia Roberts, Jason Sudeikis, Britt Robertson, Timothy Olyphant, Margo Martindale, Sarah Chalke, Shay Mitchell, Aasif Mandvi, Robert Pine, Hector Elizondo and many others. The film received almost unanimously bad reviews from critics, and it disappointed at the Box Office. I found it to be exactly what I expected it to be.

The movie is set in Atlanta, during the week before Mother's Day. It centers around the lives of Sandy (Aniston), Jesse (Hudson), Miranda (Roberts), Kristin (Robertson) and Bradley (Sudeikis). All of them have to deal with different (sometimes intersecting) family issues, and a few romantic ones as well, as they all prepare for Mother's Day too (in the process). Things become more and more hectic (of course) as the holiday grows closer.

Marshall has directed a few good movies in his long career, like 'PRETTY WOMAN' (also featuring Julia Roberts), but his last three were definitely nothing to be too proud of. The actors in this film have also done much better work (especially Sudeikis). It's not a horrible movie, it's just nothing that memorable. Some mothers (and daughters) might enjoy it though, at least a little more than me (probably).

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