The Good Mother (1988)

Solid acting and i get what he movie was trying for but imo if you have half a brain or kids of your own you'd feel no sympathy for the mom.The Mother discovers joy through sexuality with her new (KEY WORD BEING NEW) lover and her daughter get's caught up in it (Not in a rapey way).I get it. Mother is enjoying being a new liberated sexual being. But how long have you known this guy? If you're going to allow him to go around naked in your home, have sex with him on the same bed as your young daughter etc etc your answer better be YEARS and that you trust him with your daughters life. Because that's basically what your doing.I know what others say this movie is about but i saw this as a movie where the Mother didn't love her Daughter enough to put her child above her own happiness and put her at risk of rape or worse. While no one is supposed to be the villain of the movie the Father is kind of put in that role but i didn't understand. Any Parent in their right mind would do the same thing and sue for custody.If it was the Father with a young son and was letting the son go around and touch his girlfriends private bits you don't think the Mother would go apeshit crazy? Or if the Father let his Daughter touch his private bits because she was curious rather then let her touch some strangers cock? I think the Mom would've gone crazy for that too.

Diane Keaton and Liam Neeson are great together, but the subject matter is hard to watch. The points of view of the different characters are well presented. You can understand everyone's behavior and conclusions. Would I have preferred a tidy, happy ending? Yes. But this movie doesn't take the easy way out. It tackles a difficult situation caused by "enlightened, progressive" thinking, and leaves you pondering. I so wanted to point out to the characters the early errors so the catastrophic ending could be avoided.THE GOOD MOTHER presents one of the most honest portrayals of awakening female sexuality and committed love on film.

No matter how many famous actors you throw at this "story," it is still pointless and laughable. **Possible spoiler** A woman gets divorced, meets an artist, and her 5 year old daughter touches his penis, trial ensues. I wish I were making that up, but that is the 'story' of this movie. Sound bad? Yeah, it is.

I'm cautious about films with a message: they are too easily heavy-handed and preachy, or on the other extreme capable of producing a mass "understanding" that is actually untrue ("The Klansman/Birth of a Nation" comes to mind). Films dealing with sexual attitudes can very glibly preach either "damnation for transgression" or "freedom from repression" with equal superficiality. This film is remarkable for painting all its characters with dimension: no one is evil, but everyone can be weak, afraid, and make poor decisions with good yet fearful intentions. The acting is terrific, so you feel satisfied at having seen a movie of quality at the same time you feel frustrated, infuriated, and finally exhausted by the outcome of the plot. Another example of Leonard Nimoy's excellent qualities as a director, forever lost - I'm afraid - in the strange perception that his work in Star Trek makes all of his career somehow lightweight.