Mother (1996 film)
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| Directed by | Albert Brooks |
| Produced by | Herb Nanas Scott Rudin |
| Written by | Albert Brooks Monica Johnson |
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| Music by | Marc Shaiman |
| Cinematography | Lajos Koltai |
| Edited by | Harvey Rosenstock |
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Running time
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104 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $19,145,198 |
Mother is a 1996 comedy-drama film directed by Albert Brooks, co-written by Brooks with Monica Johnson, and starring Brooks and Debbie Reynolds as son-and-mother.
Brooks portrays a novelist who moves back home with his mother after his second divorce, hoping to determine why all his relationships with women were unsuccessful. Mother was Reynolds's first major film role in over 20 years. The film earned positive reviews and was Brooks's most financially successful film as a director.
John Henderson (Albert Brooks) is a successful science fiction writer who is finalizing his second divorce. He is perplexed by the issues he has with women, realizing that his wives and girlfriends all didn't support or encourage him. John decides to initiate an experiment that will help him understand what went wrong in his relationships: he moves back in with his widowed mother Beatrice (Debbie Reynolds), occupying the same bedroom he had as a child. His sports agent brother Jeff thinks John is oversensitive to their mother's criticism, while John believes that their mother favors Jeff.
Their relationship is characterized by constant bickering and power struggles; both are perfectionists strongly committed to their respective points of view. John believes she's overly critical of him, while Beatrice contends that he blames her unfairly for his personal failings. A rare bright spot in their relationship appears appears when she takes an interest in his word processor and impresses John with her fast, flawless typing. Beatrice seems surprised by John's interest in her life and is reluctant to 'go into all that.'
When Beatrice cancels her plans to travel to visit her son Jeff, Jeff has a meltdown and an argument with his wife over his need to keep in constant contact with his mother. She tells him that he may needs to evaluate his relationship with his mother just as much as John. John and Beatrice go to the zoo, where they finally reach some common ground. When they return home Jeff is waiting; so upset by the aborted visit, he came all the way up to try to talk Beatrice into visiting for the weekend. All three argue and Jeff leaves alone, John satisfied that Jeff's the "sickie" and that he's "pretty darn healthy to begin with."
Beatrice tells John that she has a friend who comes through San Francisco every few weeks and stays over a few days, but while John is there this visit will be just for one day but that she needs to see him. John is surprised that she would call someone she is intimate with not important, but she dismisses it, saying they "just have sex occasionally." John meets Charles, who knows a lot about John because, as he tells John, Beatrice brags about him when he's not around. They head off to have dinner; in the car they discuss the evening, with Beatrice refusing to have anything more than dinner because of her son's visit, even though the idea of more seems to excite Charles.
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