La chair de sa chair

This is a solid action flick that offers an unbeatable woman who takes on a battalion of bad guys to rescue her teenage son, who has lived with his step-parents all his life. Our superhero is Nina Nowak, a former special ops agent played by Agnieszka Grochowska, who gave up her son to protect him from her inherently dangerous lifestyle. Despite her sacrifice, her son Max (played by Adrian Delikta) is kidnapped by the bad guys and used as bait to lure Nina out in the open. Their maneuver works, much to their regret.

The confrontations are swift and violent and Nina's fighting skills are top notch, but she doesn't win every battle...but we know she's going to win the war. I like that Nina actually suffers a variety of bloody injuries during her conflicts, which aren't always realistically portrayed but at least the film gives a nod to combat consequences.

Inevitably and forevermore, "Mother's Day" will be compared to "The Mother," a film starring Jennifer Lopez that was released just months earlier and has a very similar plot. "The Mother" is weak sauce compared to this Polish production and Lopez (who I actually like) doesn't hold a candle to Grochowska when it comes to gritty action heroes. Lopez always looks like a runway model -- an aging one, but still in bloom -- even when she's in the midst of a brawl. Grochowska sustains all the aches and agonies you'd expect from so many battles and skirmishes.

I gave "The Mother" a 4-star review but "Mother's Day," skillfully written and directed by Mateusz Rakowicz, is worthy of its 7 stars. It's one of those movies where you need to completely suspend your disbelief to enjoy, but if you relax and don't pick too many nits, you're bound to have a good time.

Nina Nowak is a former special operations agent who has crossed the wrong people. They can't get to her directly so they kidnap her son. He was adopted and has no idea that she is his mother but that won't stop her doing whatever it takes to get him back. This includes taking on assorted gangsters, agents of a corrupt foreign power and some people she thought she could trust.

This may not be a great film; the plot is hardly original and the action isn't exactly realistic but if you can put your brain in neutral for ninety minutes it is quite fun. There aren't too many let ups in the action and the fights and shoot outs do have a sense of danger. Unlike many action films our lead won't survive each encounter without getting hurt. The action is exciting and fairly bone-crunching even if there is an excess of slow-motion at times. The bad guys are all suitably unpleasant and equally expendable while our heroine is enjoyably tough yet vulnerable. The acting is solid enough; the villains ham it up ridiculously at times but that is part of the fun. Agnieszka Grochowska impresses as Nina. The locations used are mostly stereotypical dingy disused industrial buildings or night time in less salubrious areas of Warsaw. Overall I'd say this is hardly a must see but it is fun if you are a fan of the genre.

These comments are based on watching the film in Polish with English subtitles.

The big difference between the two is that this one wasn't a big Hollywood production with 3 well known prolific writers, yet this film was still more enjoyable. Sure it had some plot and technical issues, but considering it's a low budget international B film with fairly new filmmakers and an unknown cast, this one shined compared to The Mother. It had a Pulp Fiction theme, feel and overboard colorful characters, and although the lead actress Agnieszka Grochowska as Nina didn't really fit her character, this Polish actress still managed to pull it off and be more convincing than J-Lo in the action scenes. And I will also say, the action scenes were pretty impressive and well-styled and choreographed for a non-Hollywood production. Had some of the nonsense that attempted to be funny (that wasn't, more like cringe) been omitted, and the colorful overboard characters toned down a bit, I would've easily given this an extra star. Nevertheless as an international B action thriller, flaws and all, it was still more fun and entertaining than the J-Lo version. So it's a decent one-time watch, and a good way to redeem your entertainment experience after being disappointed as much as I was after watching The Mother. This mom film was awesome in comparison.

Dzien matki, or mothers day is a new polish netlfix movie. It started out well as we get introduced to nina, an ex officer who still knows her training. And after getting tangled up with some men outside a shop, her son gets kidnapped. She does really well with the fighting and I enjoyed the way it was shot. But things did take a bit of step back after and I found myself getting confused after that as things went this way and that and nina was just kinda going all around without anything happening. So a good beginning but the movie just go so off course/ I did however enjoy the action and the actor playing nina was good in her role, but dissopointing overall.

A lot better than I thought this film would be. If you like action and thrills and a bit of suspense then this should hit the spot. The story is simple it seems at first, a kid is kidnapped out of revenge on the main character the mother. She is very highly trained and a master at defending herself against a pack of thugs, and it looks like she can't be beat. A little exaggerated, a little unreal but it is one of those films; a lot of fighting and a lot of gruesomeness so take it or leave it.

What I liked about this film was when I thought the story had reached its conclusion, there was more and a bit more than I'd bargained for so that's why I gave it such a high rating. The acting was fine apart from her son and it wasn't drawn out it was fast paced and engrossing. Give it a try if this is what you're after.