Mother and Child

This movie moved me. I'm a guy but this movie and the end just make me cry.

I decided to watch this movie, because of HBO's director Rodrigo Garcia. And i'm thankful i did. It is so emotional i just wish HBO would make a drama series like this.

Naomi Watts is one of the greatest actresses on earth i think. She is still amazing but to bad that Sandra Bullock wins an Oscar where Watts still waits for one.

I also realize Annette Benning is an outstanding actress. I first watched her in American Beauty.

The scenario is great, too. Garcia should make more movies that quality. If you like drama movies (especially if you're a mom) you should watch this. Please give this a nomination academy! 8.5/10

"No I would not give you false hope/ On this strange and mournful day/ But the mother and child reunion /Is only a motion away, oh, little darling of mine. /I can't for the life of me Remember a sadder day /I know they say let it be /But it just don't work out that way /And the course of a lifetime runs /Over and over again." Paul Simon

Everything in the moving Mother and Child moves inexorably and lyrically toward a reunion, most notably between mother Karen (Annette Bening) and daughter Elizabeth (Naomi Watts). The other women in the movie are either moving toward birthing or adopting or just being mothers to children who are in the motion.

Mother and Child is one of the best movies I have seen this year and like The Bad Seed and Secrets and Lies among the most powerful about adoption and the challenges of being a mother. At 14, Karen gave up Elizabeth for adoption. Elizabeth colors every moment of Karen's life until she must seek her out. So, too, Elizabeth's awareness of the mother she has never seen.

Writer/director Rodrigo Garcia masterfully moves among mothers and mothers to be (Elizabeth becomes pregnant in the course of the film) to create a mosaic of longing and love, not one situation resolved in a typically Hollywood way, but just as the fates allow for real people. Woven into the dramatic tensions of a mother trying to reconnect with a child, a new mother surrendering to the difficulties of motherhood, and older mothers trying to support their challenged daughters, Garcia has a love affair between attorney Elizabeth and her boss, Paul ( an astonishingly underplaying Samuel l. Jackson) and an unlikely liaison between crusty Karen and sensitive co-worker Paco (an overweight, lovable Jimmy Smitts). While all these shenanigans might smack of the soap opera, the pace of the film is so languid as to allow the reality of the proceedings to grasp on to the imagination for total acceptance.

The question of the causes and effects of adoption underpins the plot but with a proportion of pain that may be unreal. No matter, the results have an authentic feel, as does the superb acting.

No illusion, this mother and child reunion is only a motion picture away.

Rodrigo Garcia's 'Mother and Child' is one of the most moving poetic films I have seen of recent times. Garcia's previous films comprised of short vignettes and, on the surface, 'Mother and Child' appears that way. Though the connection between Elizabeth's story and Karen's story is apparent, the other subplots initially appear as though they have no link to Karen and Elizabeth.

While there have been numerous movies of intertwined lives and stories, only few films have managed to have strong links and 'Mother and Child' is one of them and in addition the link between the stories is very significant and it's beautifully done. Moreover the twists and turns are superb. Rodrigo Garcia truly has created a treasure here. His eloquent writing breathes poetry as the story of his characters' lives unfold. Every single character, even the minor ones, are excellently fleshed out.

The execution is just as wonderful. The art direction, cinematography, editing and lighting is first rate. The soundtrack is simply amazing.

Each and every one of the actors does nothing short of fantastic and they deliver some of their finest performances. Annette Bening and Naomi Watts are spellbinding as the mother and daughter, two lost souls leading fractured lives until they gradually find purpose. Kerry Washington is superb as the wannabe mother desperate to have a child while being unaware of the challenges of motherhood. Jimmy Smits is terrific. Garcia's regulars, Elizabeth Peña, Elpidia Carillo and Amy Brenneman are very effective in brief roles and Cherry Jones is brilliant.

'Mother and Child' offers the viewer what they don't know they were looking for in a film. While it is no surprise how many gems are overlooked by people because of lack of recognition, it's a shame that this precious little film falls under this category. I couldn't recommend it more and it's become among my favourites.

Mother and Child (2009)

A drama filled with crosscurrents and heavy emotional stuff, yet told in such a normal and realistic way we come to believe it. And like it. Especially the acting, with Naomi Watts and Annette Bening leading two generations (and defining the title).

More than just exploring what a woman and her daughter (or her mother) need from one another (and give), this is about that first stage of becoming a mother—and deciding whether to keep the baby at all. So you see, it gets huge. And then comes the long term issue of adoption and finding, with luck, your adopted mother. The anger and released fears and the decades of doubts all flip and resolve, and this is all here.

What helps all along is the imperfect characters. In fact, Watts (as the conniving, independent daughter) and Bening (as the bitter, lonely mother) are really unlikable. At first. What keeps you going is the tenderness of two of the men, played by Jimmy Smits and Samuel L. Jackson, both with wonderful subtlety. While it never becomes "father and child" at all, these men really help nurture the mother and daughter relationships.

So who is this Columbian director and writer who pulled this together so well? He's had a mixed career writing and producing, and directing, including some "Six Feet Under" episodes and other spot jobs. He seems to lean toward interpersonal dramas, and has a knack for playing down sentiment while tuning into emotional impact (which is very different). It works.

Some people might find the plot too controlled, too contrived (almost but not quite to the point of predictability). Others might find the restraint all a bit too realistic, so that you kind of see too much real life and not enough theater. For me it walked a great line between all these poles. Good stuff!

Caught this one at TIFF, and it was one of the best movies of the festival. Rodrigo Garcia directed "Nine Lives", which may be familiar to some audiences. That one was from 2005 and wove together a series of short vignettes. Garcia has a wonderful sensibility at portraying female characters in that one, and in "Mother & Child" he builds upon it even further as the movie centers around the theme of adoption and how it affects three adult women, played by Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, and Kerri Washington.

I suppose this will get the "chick flick" label upon it's release, but for any lover of good dramas with characters you can sink your teeth into, that shouldn't matter, and besides, when did it become unfashionable for grown men to see movies with attractive female stars in them? There isn't a false moment or a scene that doesn't ring true, and I found myself so involved in the particularities of all the characters we meet that it no longer mattered to me what happened next, it was more interesting to get inside the shoes and take a walk inside the lives of these characters, so well fleshed out by all the stars here. So many big movies from America often feature adults behaving like children, and so it's ultimately refreshing and quite moving to follow the characters in "Mother & Child" who are going through very adult problems and acting like adults throughout, even if sometimes they fall or crack or are flawed.

I think Bening and Watts, playing two very complicated and difficult women, should be nominated for Oscars. This movie takes material that could have been dumbed down and made into a TV movie of the week, but instead Rodrigo Garcia elevates the film by really listening to his characters. A wonderful movie, not just for women, but for all adults who like good movies, and for all film-goers who especially like "hyperlink" movies, that is, movies that deal with a multitude of characters while letting each of them take the wheel of the car. Terrific.