Mother and Child (2009)

Obviously orphanhood is a painful condition, as is lifelong separation from one's child. Adoption is a momentous undertaking, potentially beautiful for all concerned but fraught with risks of heartbreak. These are worthy but dangerous subjects for a movie; and despite good intentions and formidable actors, this one goes badly astray, though it's not without powerful moments. 'Mother and Child' is one of those manipulative stories about angst-ridden folks in LA whose lives turn out to be intertwined. It's not surprising to find it was produced by Alejandro González Iñárritu, though word from Cannes says his own latest film, 'Biutiful,' is straightforward and linear. Iñárritu himself directed the compellingly gritty and loosely connected multi-strand movie 'Amores Perros,' then veered into pretentious pseudo-complexity with more multiple-layered and polyglot storytelling in '21 Grams' and 'Babel.' The popularity among ambitious filmmakers of this genre can be partly traced to the success of the 2004 Paul Haggis film 'Crash ' (also set in a tormented and multi-ethnic, multi-racial Los Angeles), which won three Oscars, including Best Picture, pushing out the more worthy, but less successfully button-pushing 'Brokeback Mountain.'

'Mother and Child' has a fine cast headed by Naomi Watts (who was in '21 Grams', and so is a veteran of orchestrated anomie), Annette Benning, and Samuel L. Jackson, and includes strong performances by Cherry Jones as a kindly nun, Kerry Washington as an eager young women bent on adoption, and Jimmy Smits as one of several implausibly saintly people. These stand by at the right moments, patiently awaiting their opportunity to make everything right again, for the moment when all the chess pieces fall into the right pattern and the game is over.

It's hard to describe the movie in detail because its success as suspenseful entertainment hinges on the way its three or four main plots come together. If we knew ahead of time how and why the various narratives were going to mesh the film would seem flat and hopelessly manipulative -- which, in fact, it is, manipulative anyway. It's not so much flat as cloyingly sentimental and at the same time, in certain moments early on, decidedly creepy. What I can tell you is that a better title for the early stages of the movie might be Neurotic Women. One theme is estrangement, another, adoption. Motherhood seems alternatively a pathology, and a condition hopelessly longed for and never achieved. The character played by Annette Benning is cruel, abrupt, almost pathological. So is Naomi Watts, who is also coldly manipulative. Some of the things that Naomi Watts' character does early on seem downright evil. Annette Bennings' character is so hostile and unpredictable it's hard to imagine her holding down a steady job; but plausibility is not the long suit of a screenplay bent on moving its plots and characters in neat patterns. These two people played by Benning and Watts, who represent a lonely mother and a lost child, are meant to hold our attention, but in order to justify our respect or interest they have to undergo sudden changes the scenes can't justify.

Jackson is an attorney who heads his own very successful law firm. In his first scene he is made to hire Watts, whom he declares impressive. The only trouble is that her record also clearly shows she is unstable, uncommitted, and isolated. The head of a viable firm would think twice before hi

Fmovies: There have been a few movies about adoption, but probably none so profound as Rodrigo García's "Mother and Child". It depicts three separate stories, which despite their distinction share a link.

Karen (Annette Bening) is an embittered nurse who many years earlier gave up her daughter for adoption. The daughter (Naomi Watts) is now grown up and calling herself Elizabeth, working in a law firm headed by the upstanding Paul (Samuel L. Jackson). Meanwhile, baker Lucy (Kerry Washington) and her husband Joseph (David Ramsey) are looking to adopt. The subplots are Karen's relationships with co-worker Paco (Jimmy Smits) and housekeeper Sofia (Elpidia Carrillo).

The film moves along at just the right pace so that each relationship can accurately develop, and the characters come across as individuals with whom one can truly sympathize. In particular, Karen, through observing Sofia and her daughter, comes to understand the kind of life that she could have had. This is truly one that I recommend.

Also starring David Morse, Tatyana Ali, Latanya Richardson and Ahmed Best (Jar Jar Binks).

Diane and I just saw this film in Fremantle and we were both totally absorbed by the strength, truth and integrity of it. The IMDb comments from viewers have noted the extraordinarily rich acting by all the people in this project; it is as if they were working at a higher level because they felt the power of the script and wanted to give the film the very best performance they could muster. It was similar to hearing our local chamber orchestra that seemed, at least to Diane and me, to rise above their normal excellent work and give tremendous support to a recognized Swiss violinist in concert with him. Other commentators have mentioned academy award strength in these performances and I can certainly accede to these opinions.

We were impressed by the script which assumed that the audience could follow the pastiche lives of the four women involved in these all too real life situations. We thought that the writer who also directed this beautiful film understood and dealt sympathetically with the jigsaw of their lives as those lives unfolded. Don't read too carefully about the plot; I would suggest that you just take a seat and become absorbed in this tremendously sympathetic view of all that transpires on the screen. It is a gem not to be missed.

Mother and Child fmovies. Mother and Child was the best movie I saw at the Toronto International Film Festival — and I saw 25.

Annette Bening is staggeringly brilliant in her role. She's a prickly and largely unappealing character, but the actress brings such humanity to the performance as a woman whose heart is slowly coming to life. Naomi Watts also brings nuance and humanity to a flawed and complex character. In a world where characters must always be "likeable," these performances feel like revelations.

Direction is consistently sensitive and intelligent. The script deftly moves between three worlds, with intersections that are surprising and never feel forced.

If Mother and Child doesn't garner wide distribution (and an Oscar nod for Ms. Bening) then this industry is deeply flawed.

Wow, where do I begin? Well, let me say that I went to the screening after hearing a friend rant and rave about how good it is. Being of the dude species I said to myself it's another chick-flick, but since homegirl couldn't stop talking about how good it was I decided to check it out anyway.

I'm thrilled to say that I am beyond happy that I did. This movie is the BOMB if you appreciate excellent acting, writing, directing and casting. I could go on and on but that's the bottom line.

Well, I do have one more thought. I just hope and pray that come Oscar time - because "Mother and Child" is being released now (Spring, 2010) - that it will somehow not be overlooked.

If you like excellent movie making of the drama variety, go see this film!

"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.