Poseidon-3 In what has to rank as one of the mainstream cinema's most daunting pieces of subject matter, this BBC produced film explores the sexual relationship between a 60-something woman and a handyman 30 years her junior. Reid plays a grandmother (pushing 70!) whose feeble husband has managed to keep her tied to him and mostly subservient to him throughout their marriage (mostly due to the times, more than from a deliberate cruelty on his part.) While visiting their upwardly mobile and emotionally distant son in London (and also their daughter, who lives in the same vicinity), the husband (Vaughn) dies abruptly. Faced with a life of sitting in a chair watching the telly, Reid decides to return to London and reconnect with her children and grandchildren, who barely know her. Her extraordinarily neurotic and selfish daughter (Bradshaw) is carrying on an affair with the same handyman (Craig) who is building a conservatory onto the son's townhouse and asks Reid for advice about how to handle him. As Reid begins to strike up an acquaintance with Craig, she begins to find him appealing to herself and starts to unlock a lot of pent up feelings regarding her long lost sexuality and feelings of intimacy. Craig, who appreciates Reid's kind manner and thoughtful intellect, becomes drawn to her as well, causing plenty of drama and turmoil in an already unstable family. What could have been the world's most tawdry and tasteless film is saved by the deeply committed performance of Reid in the title role. She is given plenty of time to paint her character before the more sensationalistic scenes take place. It's a bit of a commentary on society that there's any discomfort at all in seeing a woman in her late 60's go to bed with a man far younger when when do the same thing quite frequently, but the disparity exists nonetheless. The scenes here are handled about as well as they could be in presenting the passion and sexuality of the situation without becoming too explicit. Craig does a very nice job here as well (displaying a much skinnier and less tantalizing body that he would later present in "Casino Royale"), but his character does seem to pendulum a lot with little or no explanation. He and Reid establish a nice chemistry between them in the scenes prior to their sexual liaisons. Other performances are strong, if not always appealing. Davies appears as a suitor more close to Reid's age and is alternately pleasant and repellent. The pace of the film is sure to test the patience of some viewers as it takes its time to build the story and includes a lot of quiet, dreamy scenes. London has rarely been presented this sunnily (the director also did "Notting Hill") which makes for a nice contrast to the sometimes downbeat goings-on. The film was shot using only natural or ambient light which may be why the director shot during so many sunny periods versus the stereotypical cloudy ones. It's a challenging work, but not without rewards. Just as in 1955's "All That Heaven Allows", a widow with two snotty children, who long for her to stay at home with the TV, creates a stir when she begins seeing a younger laborer with whom she's established an emotional connection. Now, of course, it's been ratcheted up with sexuality and the angle of the man being the daughter's lover as well, but the story thrust is pretty much the same.

smoking_cyclist Watched this as a late TV movie last night purely by chance. The blurb for the film said something to the effect of mother stays with daughter and goes on romantic journey, as I tuned in there's the carpenter hard at work on a new conservatory - played by Daniel Craig no less - so the plot was immediately apparent.It turns out that eponymous mother's carpenter love interest is also the daughter's boyfriend, so there's trouble brewing and not too many surprises. But I'd been caught by Anne Reid's compelling performance and I was hooked. The direction allows her plenty of space for staring into mirrors and adjusting scarves, when she exudes sadness.The sex scenes were fascinating and taboo-breaking. Shouldn't older women's bodies remain covered up? Not here and we're treated to a delicious reawakening in the Mother's sexuality. Even more startling are the drawings she's made that (SPOILER!) once discovered confirm her daughter's suspicion that something's going on here.Cathryn Bradshaw as the daughter didn't convince me quite as much as the rest of the cast, but that could be me. With her waves of pre-Raph locks I kept expecting to see Julia Sawahla, whose more intense face would have suited the confrontations better to my mind. Bradshaw has a rounder happier face that didn't carry the anger that emerges as the film progresses.The ending is weak. If the goodbyes for Mother as she leaves in disgrace are so indifferent then perhaps we could see some close-ups of those waving goodbye and see something of their individual reasons. Whatever she's done, she's a recently bereaved widow leaving for the lonely home she shared with her husband for 30 years, and I found the lack of sympathy jarring. For a film so full of emotion (and be warned it's like opening champagne, you'll never get the lid back on) the ending is a cold contradiction.

Justin Huang As I watched The Mother, I could not help but think how much my own mother would enjoy this film, perhaps as much as I myself was not enjoying it. The film is unarguably artfully shot, with wonderful use of reflections and distorted images. Yet the story failed to draw me in; I found it impossible to relate with this elderly woman who is scared of becoming old, being a young male. Nevertheless, as a director, Michell still managed to address those of his audience with similar situations as me. I was still able to feel May's quiet anguish over her realization of her frail mortality, which is accentuated through her husband's death, her grownup children, and her affair with Darren. May's tryst with Darren does break social taboos, and as an audience member, I honestly cannot say that I was comfortable with the image of an old woman having graphic sex with a much younger man. But I also could not blame May for her decision, as if to condemn her for being old, and thus unable to take pleasure in activities that are supposedly only for younger people. My heart particularly went out to May in that scene when she allows Bruce to practically rape her; the scene was hard to watch and had a dirty feel to it, and when I realized that it represented her reluctant acceptance of her age, I felt a compassion for her. Nonetheless, I still feel that Michell never truly conveys his message. May's horrendously selfish daughter tells her how easy a life she had, and from what I could gather from the film, I had to reluctantly agree. Therefore May's dilemma lacks the emotional punch it deserves, but Michell's film still serves as a poignant tribute to the realization of mortality.

AZINDN With the death of her infirmed husband, May, an older woman faces a future in an urban world that views her as invisible, dead from the neck down, and unwelcome in the pseudo- sophisticated yuppie homes of her son, Bobby and his shallow wife, Helen, and Paula, a self- absorbed, clinging, and minimally talented daughter. The central family is anything but warm, supportive, and understanding of her new and tragic stage in life as a widow. The Mother is a quiet character study that points up how in some societies, an elder parent is both unwelcome and seen as a burden to grownup children whose careers and status seeking overshadow all else. As May comes to realize the world is still important to her, the lonely widow finds her libido reawakened and alive with her daughter's boyfriend, Derrek (Daniel Craig), a carpenter and rough sort. May embarks on an uninhibited sexual affair with Darrek whose character is sympathetic to her at first, but his flawed nature is quickly revealed through the pressures of the women who surround him.This is the kind of role Hollywood actresses of a certain age whine is never written for them, but they would never appear in because of the frankness, overt sexuality, unglamorous wardrobe, little makeup, and social commentary on the vapidness of the very society that most film industry middle age actresses are enchrenched. The performance of lead actress, Anne Reid ranges from quiet to giddy and her interpretation blossoms on screen from the drab widow to a sexually alive and freed up middle age woman whose performance is sans face-lift, hair extensions, botox, and liposuction. She bares more than her soul on-screen with Craig.Craig as the enabling handyman who beds mother and daughter turns in another stellar performance that is at first sympathetic to the widow's situation, but in the end is without redemption. As his true nature unfold and he is literally the rooster in a hen-house his aimless inability to say no to the ex-wife, boring girlfriend, and her mother is blamed as the root of his ineffectual existence. While good with his hands at building a conservatory, he is unable to construct meaning in his life.One of the best films from Britain in years, it is simply adult in its storyline. The Mother is the rare kind of film that is perhaps too honest for American audiences to tolerate having no car chase, no bling, no rap soundtrack to drown out the cretin performances by TV starlets and buff studmuffins. The Mother reflects how the aging baby boomers are now disposable people that offspring are willing to overlook, send to the retirement home, and get out of the way. May doesn't know what to do as she is made alive by Darren, isn't willing to go to the old folks home, and finds her kids are more conservative than she ever was at their age.