Mother and Child will cut you raw and scrape your soul; in an impressive sort of way.
Though writer/director Rodrigo Garcia may have a shortish resume, he’s attracted some heavyweight staffers to this heavyweight dissection of motherhood. The film focuses on the lives of three women and the relationships they have with children. Karen (Annette Benning) is an emotional wreck after giving up her daughter for adoption 37 years earlier. Said daughter Elizabeth (Naomi Watts) is similarly reeling from the abandonment. While in another part of town, Lucy (Kerry Washington) and her husband Joseph are going through adoption proceedings themselves.
It’s easy to see why much of the marketing of this film has focused on Babel director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s involvement as producer. It has the same intense emotional tapestry woven through his other work. There are endless great performances in the gruelling two hours. Watts and Benning are revelations, giving us characters almost previously unseen in Hollywood. Unfortunately, Washington can’t quite match them but gives it an admirable attempt. The men also keep up their end – Jimmy Smits maintains a gentle stoicism and Samuel L Jackson is surprisingly downplayed.
In truth, a female director may have added a little more subtlety to some key scenes, and it takes a little while to get used to the theatrical, characters-saying-what-they-feel style of dialogue; but it’s a very strong emotional cinematic experience. The slow, depressive mood sinks and swirls us lower; offering only rare, though poignant, moments of gentle brevity.
This is an intense and powerful piece of cinema, though avoid the spoiler-heavy preview at all costs.
4 ½ stars
