Roland E. Zwick
Eliza Welsh is what one of the characters in "Motherhood" refers to derisively as an "urban mom." That is to say a young woman who lives in an upscale part of town (in this case, Greenwich Village), has a hoard of New Age-y mom friends who obsess over the ins-and-outs of successful childrearing, and herself hosts a blog dedicated to - what else? - how to survive the rigors of young motherhood without sacrificing one's identity as a woman, as a wife and as an individual. It's a battle that Eliza seems to be losing at the moment, but at least she's giving it the old college try.Written and directed by Katherine Dieckmann, this seriocomic tale takes place on the day before Eliza's oldest child is to turn six. Filled with mixed emotions at the event and saddled with a husband (Anthony Edwards) who seems more focused on his own needs than those of his wife, Eliza struggles with arranging a birthday party, dodging parking tickets, coping with a studio-shoot on her street, looking out for her elderly neighbor, and raising a toddler - all while trying to carve out a little time for herself to write and to do all the things adults (those without children, at least) normally do in the course of their days.Dieckmann's screenplay is filled with both poignancy and humor as it deftly explores the life of this harried mother. Uma Thurman, in a tour-de-force performance, captures both the manic energy and utter exhaustion of the nonstop merry-go-round that her character finds herself riding on; and she is fully supported by Edwards as her husband, Minnie Driver as her closest girlfriend, and Arjun Fupta ("Nurse Jackie") as a sexy delivery boy who, for a brief moment at least, allows Eliza to let her hair down a bit and to see the heart of the vibrant, sexy, carefree woman that still beats beneath all the motherly obsessions and concerns.Although it's ultimately a bit too slight in the drama department for it to rise much above the level of a bemusing curiosity, "Motherhood" still has some valid insights to make about its subject.
marysz
Motherhood is about a Greenwich Village mom Eliza, who is so busy taking care of her kids, her elderly next-door neighbor and feeling inadequate about the fact that she hasn't "made it" professionally that she lives a chaotic life and takes terrible care of herself and of course, for all her devotion to her kids, neglects them also. She can't take care of her kids' needs if she's not looking after her own. This is how many women live their lives, but the filmmaker did the film a disservice by setting it in the Village--it's such a wealthy neighborhood that it's hard to feel sympathy for this mom. And as for the scene where she actually invites a strange deliveryman up into her family's apartment on the day of her daughter's birthday party, no less, and dances with him is completely unbelievable for a film set in New York. Even a ditzy person like her would completely distrust strangers. As some of the other reviewers here have noted, Eliza is an immensely privileged woman who lives in one of the most affluent neighborhoods in the world. Her privilege undercuts the important message of the film, which should be about the under-appreciated and mostly invisible but enormously time-consuming job it is to raise children. If this film was made with a truly working-class setting, it would have been more believable. And even though it's supposed to be a comedy, it actually isn't particularly funny.
craigman-herring
My wife and I rented this the other night from the movie machine at Publix. I really had no interest in seeing it, but decided to give it the benefit of the doubt. I like Uma Thurman, and always found her sexy, sagging boobs and all. She seems like a competent enough actress, but she definitely has had the lions share of bombs, going back to Even Cowgirls Get The Blues, Gattaca, etc.In this movie, like billions before, it is set in Manhattan, which I am really quite sick of. The first few minutes of the film, in which we see Uma shambling around a shabby apartment, seemed kind of creepy, like a PSA for depression. The film is very uneven and can't be called a comedy, and really didn't seem like a drama or love story. If anything, it shows the average New Yorker as quite annoying and unlikable. Uma's character whines about not having time to do anything, even though she does not have a job and creates extra work for herself, like giving her elderly neighbor orange juice. She writes meaningless Blogs, Carrie Bradshaw- style, in the "little slices of free time" she has. She runs around like a crazy person, trying to prepare for her daughter's birthday, obsessing bizarrely over the fact that the day is the "last day my daughter will be 5". WTF was that all about? Also, why does she wait until the last minute to prepare for the party? She seems to want to be a victim, to be able to complain incessantly about the "hardships of being a mother". Like other posters said, having children is a choice (usually). Nobody forced her to have two kids, and a dog she doesn't clean up after!I am sick of so many unoriginal movies about parenthood. Why doesn't Hollywood do something original (fat chance) and actually portray a couple that cannot have kids? The fact that this movie flopped so badly is a good indication that people are sick of this type of movie. I will give this movie a little bit of credit for having the couple not be rich and I liked the Pylon song Uma and the delivery guy danced to.
tamaycoD
This is a review for motherhood, but I'd like to address Uma's part in this. What I love about her in this movie is her ability to show how perfectly devoid of arrogance and conscious vanity she is. Everything about Uma Thurman screams "awkward", from the flaring nostrils, to the gawky wingspan - but Uma is choice and nothing in the world can change that she is delectable from tip to toe (and yes, I am a heterosexual female). I bring up Uma's luminescence because it saves this film from being another dreary, almost funny, shallow take on Motherhood. Her performance is spot on, and smoking while hanging out the car window, blasting the radio in the car while driving insanely, moving a vehicle without properly strapping the child in, this is all stuff that mothers succumb too on a daily basis. I do have a differing opinion on the messenger scenes, SPOILER ALERT: The messenger storyline was not unfinished, there was nothing else for a woman who won't cheat - for some wives that is cheating in a sense - it's hurtful and hopeful in soul crushing contradiction to have an attractive member of the opposite sense look at us with something other than hausfrau utility. Uma came clean in the car for this reason, and in this "coming clean" scene in the car with Anthony Edwards, Uma gives the best monologue of the movie. I give this movie a 7/10. A 10/10 for Uma's performance, as well as Anthony Edwards performance (who is perfect as the "nearly" there husband), and a -3/10 for sprinkles of reality on a cupcake of anecdotes. My final thoughts: Very watchable, and likable. Not a must-see unless you're a Thurman fan.
AD
