Mother and Child (2009)
Genre: Drama / Romance
Duration: 125 minuten
Alternative title: Mother & Child
Country:
United States / Spain
Directed by: Rodrigo García
Stars: Annette Bening, Naomi Watts and Kerry Washington
IMDb score:
7,2 (13.332)
Releasedate: 7 November 2009
Mother and Child plot
Three women who live independently of each other turn out to be connected. Elizabeth is looking for her mother, Karen is looking for her daughter, and Lucy is looking for a child. Karen (Annette Bening), fifty-year-old, was forced to give up her baby at the age of fourteen by her mother. She did not dare to go against her mother, but she has never forgotten the child. After years of mustering courage, she sets out in search of her daughter. Elizabeth (Naomi Watts), an independent and career-oriented woman, becomes pregnant by the man she is having an affair with. For the first time in her life, she wants to know who her mother is, the woman she herself never knew. Lucy (Kerry Washington) wants to adopt a child at all costs to save her marriage, but is still abandoned by her husband.
Actors and actresses
Elizabeth
Karen
Lucy
Paco
Paul
Sister Joanne
Sofia
Ray
Karen (age 14)
Reviews & comments
Sergio Leone
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- 4461 messages
- 3142 votes
Double.
The first hour is very strong: what happens is interesting and works. The frequent switching between the different plot lines is not a bad thing.
Unfortunately, things are gradually becoming more difficult. The story is just a bit too much good - bad - good - bad - ... There is quite a lot going on around the pot and working towards a conclusion. Anyway, the ending is what I expected, but I could have done it twenty minutes earlier.
Twenty minutes more or less is no drama, especially considering the level of the cast, of which Naomi Watts is absolutely top notch and with some ease other powerhouses such as Annette Bening and Samuel L. Jackson - in such emotional roles a hundred times better than as a screaming monkey - behind. late. Even Kerry Washington manages to act once in a while.
Rodrigo García - unknown to me - lives a bit too much on the cast as far as I'm concerned - not entirely unjustly, of course. For a long time, however, he can present an honest drama, but towards the end the charm wears off and it threatens to go rather soggy. I also prefer longer scenes/more time per storyline before switching to another scene/storyline.
3
Translated from Dutch · View original
Maximee92
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- 22 messages
- 2565 votes
Wonderful film with excellent acting. Especially nice how the storylines eventually come together. Although you could see from miles away that the adopted woman and the woman who gave up her daughter are mother and daughter.
It is indeed slow to start, but I had a great time for 2 hours and also shed a tear.
3.5*
Translated from Dutch · View original
Movsin
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- 8331 messages
- 8448 votes
Sensitive subject but the melodrama is too thick.
Slow and predictable.
Interpreters do their best but the whole is not above average.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Fisico
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- 10039 messages
- 5398 votes
An adoption film always tries to strike a chord. That is no different here. Unlike in e.g. Juno (2007), the comical aspect is somewhat omitted, but it is the surrogate mother who pulls the strings in one of the plots. holds in hands. At first I wasn't sure where the story was going, but in the end it all comes together.
Lots of sentiment, lots of drama in the film. Not over the edge, but it is mainly Watts and Benning who ensure that it remains fascinating, sincere and realistic. Also a film that doesn't just follow the usual paths and even contains a poignant twist. Strong dialogues, a beautifully written story with three storylines. Captivating enough to sing it out for two hours.
Nice strong role by Benning, who plays an embittered woman with verve and, despite his will and thanks, eventually finds some color and luff in her life. Her relationship with her mother was double and that is quite understandable. Glad to have seen this picture!
Translated from Dutch · View original
T.O.
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- 2462 messages
- 2846 votes
Nice to see a well-known ensemble cast in a film with little frills. Bening in particular steals the show, especially in the beginning with her awkward yet very believable scenes.
I also enjoyed seeing Tatyana Ali (Ashley from Fresh Prince of Bel Air) resurface.
Somewhere in the middle things get a bit rough and it seems to become a kind of conventional value film for the Modern Family generation.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Robi
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- 2564 messages
- 2549 votes
A 14-year-old girl is unintentionally pregnant. At birth, she immediately gives her child up for adoption. We see the film many years later from the mother's point of view and at the same time from the daughter's point of view, while both do not know each other.
The great thing about the film is that it builds up very nicely under the skin and yet is not as predictable as you would expect with this story. Later on, the story gets a little more complicated, which is a shame. There will be juggling with other mothers and adoption and also with an adoption intermediary. And that comes at the cost of the power of the original story. That is ashame. Also, towards the end, much more is played on the sentiment. And so the film drops for me from an initially possible four stars to a eventually three stars. Still a good enough though. But there was certainly more to it.
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