'night, Mother

Only people who have seriously considered suicide as an option can fully understand this movie. It is dark but it is from the perspective of a realist and is performed brilliantly. Both actresses are totally believable. I saw this movie in "87" and it has haunted me ever since.

I remember as a young adult when I first discovered this movie. It was on a local cable channel....late one night. I was flipping channels and came across it. Immediately I was taken aback by the content of the feature. I continued watching. It is a most amazing feature indeed....I have a problem myself with severe depression and have on several occassions....considered suicide myself. But, this movie so pinpoints what the loved ones left behind go through....the sorrow and misery they must suffer...that since anytime the thought crosses my mind...I think of this wonderful masterpiece of a movie and it helps me through those few moments of unclear thought. The odd thing about the movie...is it is like you are watching a televised play...rather than a regular movie....this is one of the things I liked most about it. Bancroft was wonderful in her role and Spacek did well enough as well. I give it 8 out of 10.....only because I felt it eventually became to "drawn out".....and should have concluded a bit before it did...But, all in all the movie...as a whole is quite a marvel to behold!!!!!

It's gut wrenching, incredibly sad, funny in a few parts and completely shocking. I first saw this movie in my early 20's and it had a profound effect on me. I do not watch it much because it is very, very deep and extremely, depressing.

Jessie Cates, played by Sissy Spacek, is a middle-aged, epileptic living with her mother. She has had a traumatic, divorce in her past and a wayward son headed for prison. Due to her illness, she can't drive or hold down a job and has no hopes that anything will get better for her. Jessie, has after years of contemplating suicide, finally picked the night to do it. She has organized her personal belongings and put everything in order. Now, all she has to do is tell her mother.

Anne Bancroft, plays Jessie's mother, the blissfully ignorant, Thelma Cates. Who by her own description, is "a plain, old, country woman" who "just really doesn't think there's all that much to things". She is caught totally off guard when her daughter tells her, she is planning to kill herself that night. Momma Cates is so blatantly unaware that her daughter is unhappy that she even tells her where the gun is before asking why.

The subject matter and the way it's presented is so thought provoking that one doesn't even take notice of the fact that almost this entire movie consists of basically only two actresses.

I highly recommend this movie, just don't expect a happy ending.

This film was amazingly well acted and filmed. It plays like a very intimate stage play. Sissy Spacek & Anne Bancroft each present their characters so seamlessly and flawlessly that I left the theater wondering if they actually were mother and daughter.

This movie is extremely well written. The fact that it infuriated me, in this instance is not a put-down. I believe this script was designed to do so. It's infuriating because Ms. Spacek's character is so hell-bent on her intentions that nothing but nothing is going to change her mind. Ms. Bancroft's character's job is to try and stop Spacek from reaching this particular goal she's set, at any cost. This script is a good case study into the mind-set of people who are suffering from extreme depression and the skewed decisions that they might make while in the midst of that depression.

I would highly recommend this film, with the understanding that it is not your light, airy, happy-ending movie. If you're looking for one of those don't bother with this one.

Marsha Norman's play was gripping and harrowing on Broadway and while Director Moore opens it up as much as possible without losing the repartee, it is still a filmed stage play -- but one that packs every bit of the emotional wallop it did on the stage. The acting is marvelous and pulls no punches. Bancroft is almost unrecognizable, in a good way, completely immersing herself in the energetic mother character. Spacek is completely believable as the determined daughter. This is a true clinic in two-person character study acting.