Motherhood (2009)

My wife and I enjoyed this stark picture of one mother's struggles to be the "contemporary" mom. Many will/do not like this movie, maybe because it hurts to admit that the lead couple in fact mirrors (in a Picasso-ish way) a lot of us parents these days. Despite the title, Motherhood is not trying to be a "universal portrait," but rather a particularized snapshot that might show broad themes. The characters are essentially caring, "liberal," broad-minded people trying to squeeze all of their ideals into what is necessarily an extremely limiting and oftentimes frustrating enterprise for most human beings -- parenthood. If you live in a big, popular, cosmopolitan city -- for the sake of the culture, diversity and tight-knit neighborliness -- then parking will be a problem. If you submit to your child's wish to have a "theme" birthday -- then you might be harried with providing that, in said city, particularly if you have sneaking suspicion that it's overkill anyway . If you want to be writers, pursuing a life of the mind -- well, that may not neatly coincide with making the kids' breakfast every morning and consistently attending their school functions. The movie simply presents this conundrum -- a picture of the humanity-loving folks among us who turn out to act quite frazzled and nasty when mugged by Reality -- all without judging. Yes, the characters have "bitten off more than they can chew," but haven't so many of us done the same, at least sometimes in some areas of life? It may be dispiriting to watch, but it's real.The message of the movie seems to be that parenthood (particular motherhood) demands sacrifices that some of us make less easily than others -- but that everyone is indeed trying their best. I found Anthony Edwards' husband character quite relatable -- a wee bit unaware, but absolutely loving and supportive in the ways he does understand. This couple (again, like many others) seem almost too similar to one another, thus lacking the balance necessary to make those "ideal" families flow so swimmingly. The living room dance-scene with the stranger almost broke my heart. How many parents have pined over the loss of what they thought was their individuality -- but then also felt guilty and selfish for even thinking that? I could go on...Suffice it to say that Motherhood's rambling unrealism (a kind of Impressionism) calls up some uncomfortable realities of our post-feminist life; it gets under the skin, and cuts a bit close to the bone -- apparently too close for some folks' comfort.

A sad fact is that few – or none – movies have shown the reality of being a contemporary mother. Maybe the lack of interest about this kind of stories subsists because mothers are an excluded demographic group and their chores are still unrewarded in social and economical terms. The indie film "Motherhood", from the director Katherine Dieckmann, has the merit of being the only recent movie that has shown the perils of motherhood in a sincere and interesting way."Motherhood" describes one day in the life of Eliza Welsh – a geeky, bohemian and messy mommy who lives in the verge of a nervous breakdown – but it's not a regular one, it's a pretty chaotic 24 hour marathon in which several significant events converge, being the most important of them the celebration of her lovely daughter's sixth birthday. Eliza should beat many urban obstacles in order to bring into line her different roles: woman, wife, mother and writer. At some points Eliza seems conceived by her creator as a contemporary version of Mrs. Dalloway with a post-9.11 mommy turn, and it appealed me.Uma Thurman in the main role looks exactly like a Greenwich Village's jumbled mother and the way in which she assumes the unstoppable urgencies of her character is wonderful. In the supporting roles, Anthony Edwards is excellent portraying the extremely unfocused husband, Minnie Driver looks smart and sparkling in the role of the best friend and Daisy Tahan portrays the part of Clara (Eliza's daughter) with a surprising and overwhelming naturalism.I like the fact that Kaherine Dieckmann approaches the topic of motherhood in a candid way that rings true and feels personal. I guess that the main problem of "Motherhood" is the tone (sometimes it's uneven) but in general terms I think that the story has many truthful moments and the script delivers some wise and funny lines. The climatic moment of the movie is the terrific scene wherein Eliza explains her husband that she feels that those concrete and specific chores that mothers do – like cleaning, doing the dishes, etc. – blow away passion… and the most wonderful thing of this little and entertaining movie resides in the message of the cited scene… it's not about a woman regretting motherhood, actually it's about a person who desperately wants to recuperate passion.

This film is about a mother's hectic day, trying to fit everything she has to do in just 24 hours."Motherhood" details what a mother of two has to do in a day, from housework, organising her daughter's birthday party, shopping and writing. The events seem ordinary, but it successfully highlights the stress of being a mother and a housewife. It's a job that has no off office hours, no breaks and no days off. Their demands and difficulties of their roles are often underestimated and unappreciated. It reminds us that people need encouragement and acknowledgment to survive the mundane routine. It reminds us not to take love for granted.

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.