Momma's Man

Having gone to Sundance for the last several years, I am always looking for the same thing, a movie that will truly inspire me not only as a person but as an artist as well, and every year I find it gets harder and harder to find such a film. This year that film was Momma's Man. The film was heartfelt, funny at times, and incredibly poignant. All the performances, were very real and nuanced. I especially loved the actors who played Mikey's parents. They seemed to have come from an Elaine May or Cassavettes(john not nick) film. I almost expected Gena Rowlands to make a cameo as the next door neighbor. What I enjoyed most about Momma's Man that it felt honest in a way that a lot of movies today don't seem to be. There was no artifice, there was no talking down to the audience. Instead, the director let me experience, not just watch, but experience the emotional journey that Mikey took. I wish more movies would do the same.

Ay Momma Mia! Sometimes it takes decades for an offspring to completely disconnect from his parents. This thesis is authentically depicted in the independent film "Momma's Man". Writer-Director Azazel Jacobs tale is one of wily humor but also of heartbreak, fear, sociophobia, and regression. Matt Boren stars as Mikey, a Los Angelian married to a devoted wife and also father to a newborn baby. Mikey travels to his hometown New York on a business trip, and stays with his parents which are named in the film none other than Dad & Mom; and why not? They are portrayed by none other than Azazel's real parents Ken & Flo Jacobs. In NY, Mikey does succumb to a profound case of "I am not really to be a responsible daddy" syndrome. Therefore, Mikey "scared as a" Mouse decides to elongate his stay in his parents' Big Apple loft, which is the real abode where Ken & Flo Jacobs reside and Azazel grew up in. Mikey spends his time there regressing on the past by: playing with his old toys, reading & re-exploring his past artifacts, reconnecting with an ex-girlfriend, re-bonding with his childhood loony best friend, and living the mamma's boy life (hence the film title) by getting spoon-fed by Mom. At the same time, Mikey visits "excuse city" territory in trying to explain to his awaiting wife his overextended stay with Ma & Pa. Mikey also takes a couple of pedestrian trips around New York City, but with an apparent social phobic stride. I do commend Jacobs for his experimental techniques in telling a familiar predicament to many novice family men out there, but in a more subtle context without all the verbal exploits. However, it is very tedious to integrate sheer entertainment value in Jacobs' delicate direction of his slow-moving narrative; so at sporadic times, there was too much of the same. Nevertheless, Jacobs should be climbing up the thespian ladder in many years to come due to his idiosyncratic craftsmanship. Matt Boren's performance as the conflicted Mikey was restrained but yet remarkable. Boren should not have a boring, uneventful future acting career with turns like this. And the Ma & Pa acting shop of Ken & Flo Jacobs was also a very rewarding one with their astute characterizations of Mom & Dad. But at the end of the day, and excuse me for sounding like a momma's boy for this, I wanted more cinematic treats from "Momma's Man". *** Average

The problem with this film is not the acting, editing, and direction. Those are fine. The problem is the story. I found it aggravating.

A married man living in L.A. travels to New York City on business. He uses the opportunity to visit his parents in Manhattan. Reunited with his old bed, toys and comic books, this presumed mature man makes a gradual psychological descent into adolescence, reclaiming his status as momma's boy.

The whole film is taken by this slow and gently grinding descent. I simply could not connect with such a narrative. The only thing that kept me from exiting the theater were the parents, the sane side of this story. The mother is naturally happy to have her son back and be a well-meaning pain-in-the-neck while the sensible father becomes progressively more concerned with his son's infantile behavior.

This film is certain to draw radically opposite opinions. When I saw it, a number of people left after thirty minutes. Friends, associates and fans of the director gave him a standing ovation.

I saw this movie at Sundance Film Festival last night and it was horrible.

This is the story of a guy with no life and no personality who can't face his own problems and instead refuses to leave his parent's apartment.

The plot drags along and the characters are painfully boring and uninteresting.

Dozens of theatergoers walked out in the middle of this film and I wish I had, I'm not going to be getting that time back.

Do yourself a favor and go see one of the other great independent films traveling the film festival circuit and dump this disaster.

With Momma's Man, Azazel Jacobs has shattered the promise of his wildly impressive The GoodTimesKid and delivered a statement of personal artistic expression so profound and moving that I am still holding back tears days after having seen it. While Jacobs' film addresses many different issues and themes, for me what makes it so tear jerking is that it is the most beautiful and touching love letter to one's parents (and, in turn, one's childhood home) that I have ever watched, heard, or read. Momma's Man is more than just a transcendent, extraordinary achievement in low-budget film-making. It is a work of rare, true artistry. I came to the 2008 Sundance Film Festival hoping to walk away with a film that I could champion. While I discovered a small handful of superior, exhilarating work, Momma's Man is the type of experience that I wouldn't have dreamed was imaginable. I have never been so affected by a motion picture in my life. I don't want to merely champion this film. I want to order every single person I know to see it. I want to scream at every single distributor to buy it. I want to watch it again right now. Until then, I will replay it in my mind and let new tears stream down my awed, thankful face.

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