Uma Folga Para Mamãe

Laura Miller (Bonnie Somerville) is a stay-at-home mom. It's Mother's Day weekend and nobody seems to notice other than her daughter's school assignment. Her dream of Paris is fading as her husband (James Tupper) cancels. An eaten school cake is the last straw and she decides to stay with her successful single sister Trish (Ona Grauer) who has a great boyfriend.

Her family is completely inconsiderate. They're rather annoying when they need to be adorably clueless. The cake is a prime example. It's adorably clueless to take little bites. It's annoying that they finish it off. When they run over the pot, they should comment on it. Her adventures aren't that adventurous. It's set up for one of those girls go wild adventures but this is the all together PG version. Nothing really happens. The only thing that happens is something sad with Trish's boyfriend. The family's lesson learned is a little too earnest. The whole movie needs better jokes. However, stay-at-home moms may find joy in this story.

The family is a disaster. In fact, all the cliches about an unruly and inattentive family are shown to prove it. Yet somehow the tone remains mostly upbeat. Yes the kids seem to have been trained to let mom do all the work. It is a sort of parody of that kind of family. So mom gets disgusted and takes off with her unmarried and glamorous BFF. Much of the movie is them having a great time. They have such a good time that Laura, the mom, even outdoes Trish in the fun department. The parody is that Laura becomes a sort of Trish. Meanwhile back home .... Let's just say that maybe the kids and husband do love the mom.

If you want to look at this as a story about a good family, there are lots of details to ruin that, at least for a while. I saw a comment to the effect that kids and people don't change overnight, but maybe deep down these kids were raised right but drifted into bad habits.

As I said, the tone was mostly upbeat with some fun antics followed by some sappy sentimentality. Sure it was totally predictable. But it was fun. Bonnie Somervile does a nice job keeping the mood light while she transforms.

The plot is fairly simple. There are no great surprises. There is an implied tension of the threat to the marriage, but there is never really a threatening feel.

There is a subplot about Trish and her lifestyle. Again no great surprises.

I enjoyed it. Watching in 2024, it is nothing like most of what appears on Hallmark on a Saturday night these days.

For me, this movie is the epitome of why not to have kids. Everything she experienced is what i do NOT want to happen to me. It was a cute, heartwarming movie, but unlike her bestie, it certainly did not make me want her life.

This was a cute Hallmark movie. I bought it to watch on Movie Night with my wife and we both enjoyed it. Always looking for something clean and cute to watch, and happy when I find it. James Welch Henderson, Arkansas 2/18/2021

I'm not usually partial to Hallmark MOWs, but I rather enjoyed Mom's Day Away. It had the pace, cast, quirky banter and heartfelt moments that you look for in a G-rated Rom Com.

The story follows an under appreciated Mom who ends up taking Mother's Day weekend away with her wild child BFF. It follows a very traditional route, but there's some fun scenes at a Spa Resort. Also there's a very kooky open mic set piece.

Is Bonnie Somerville actually singing??? And also, I believe she said "yay", not "gay". Remember... It's Hallmark...

The chemistry between the two girls, Laura and Trish, really kept the movie going. Laura and Trish were actually the only characters I liked. The husband was kind of a drip, and the two kids were boring to watch. Terrible casting on the kids. Redhead, really? Regardless, it was a fun little movie and well shot. It's supposed to be in Los Angeles, but it looked like Canada to me.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend watching MDA. It's a Hallmark movie with a great cast, a fun script and a perfect way to spend a week night.