Mother and Child

Quel legame indissolubile che si chiama maternità

Tre storie di donne, tre storie di maternità, quel legame fortissimo che lega una madre al proprio figlio. Karen (Annette Bening) è una donna cinquantenne, che, rimasta incinta da adolescente, ha dato in adozione la figlia e porta ora dentro di sè questo peso. Conduce una vita monotona, priva di affetti e tende ad allontanare ogni tipo di relazione. Elizabeth (Naomi Watts) è un avvocato di successo, determinata e ambiziosa. Non ha famiglia, continua »

The filmmakers deftly weave together three engaging story lines.

A screenwriter's butterfly flaps its wings and a chain of events is set into motion, resulting in the latest cinematic ensemble tale of connectivity and yearning. This one's good, though. Writer-director Rodrigo Garcia's "Mother and Child" interlaces three stories set in contemporary Los Angeles and, as with many other elaborate spoke-and-wheel screenplays ("Crash," "Amores Perros," "Babel," etc.), the characters are ruled by a series of encounters and decisions leading to the moment when the audience says: Aha! So that's how those stories crisscross! The difference here is one of tone. »

Dynamite performances from Annette Bening and Naomi Watts ignite this strong drama from writer-director Rodrigo Garcia. Bening, at her blistering best, plays Karen, a physical therapist who was 14 when she gave up her daughter for adoption. Thirty-five years later, Karen has still frozen herself off from feeling, even when Paco (Jimmy Smits), a compassionate colleague, attempts to get close. Watts portrays Elizabeth, the daughter Karen has never met but who shares her mother's bitterness. Elizabeth is a hotshot lawyer, but it's clear that she feels shortchanged by life. »