The Mother
User Score
7.8 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 6 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6

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  1. EvanS.
    Feb 27, 2006
    7
    Wonderfully crafted, top-drawer acting with great grandma-on-007 action. While there's really no redeamable characters in this family drama, you're pulled into May's quest to stay alive when her self-centered adult children could care less. If it weren't set in a bright, lovely London summer, this tough picture would be relentless viewing.
  2. SteveG.
    May 31, 2004
    7
    Despite some wretched continuity and the weight of some all too obvious symbolism, The Mother is a reasonably good film built around a taboo few movies would embrace. Can a mature woman, devastated by personal loss and without the support of her selfish family, fall for a younger man in the hope he will give something back? Ann Reid puts in a very good performance as the elderly woman going through a re-evaluation of her life though her much younger lover, Daniel Craig, never quite convinces - or perhaps never has the opportunity to reveal what he sees in this older woman. Reid is a forlorn stranger in a distant city and it is this metaphor that echoes most successfully. For all the good points it is however one of those films that could have been a stage play as most of the exterior scenes rarely help the plot along.… Expand
  3. DeWayneP.
    Jun 15, 2004
    8
    Incredibly moving film. When you're presented with subject matter that is digestible in its content, you can, and should, look past all the minute problems that a movie or any art piece has (because no art is flawless, really). This movie is more art than criticism, more story than script; go see it and enjoy the rich experience of good stories and the realities of life-isms.
  4. VinceH.
    Nov 12, 2004
    8
    One of the most underrated movies of the year in my opinion. Both Anne Reid and Daniel Craig would get Oscar nominations if I had my way in the world, I'll tell you that. Roger Michell is one of the most underrated directors around and also one of the best working in Britain today (though he hardly gets the acclaim of say Michael Winterbottom, Danny Boyle, or Mike Newell). He made the only movie with an actually good Ben Affleck performance, Changing Lanes) and also directed the best Hugh Grant-Richard Curtis collab (Notting Hill). This is a daring art film that completely swerves away from melodrama and sentimintality at every turn. The film consistently delivers what you least expect and despite the plot, it never delves into cliche. Highly recommended to rent on video for those interested in one of the better British films of 2004.… Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
72 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 27 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 27
  3. Negative: 0 out of 27
  1. Variety
    Reviewed by: Derek Elley
    50
    A portrait of a contempo British family drifting apart because of generational differences, The Mother ends up an uneasy brew of too many competing tastes and themes.
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  2. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Dennis Lim
    70
    By turns expansive and astringent, The Mother is a portrait of a woman who, with the dazed courage of someone finally awakened to the world after decades of passivity and repression, keeps on walking.
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  3. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    50
    The Mother winds up unpersuasive, in large part due to writer Hanif Kureishi, who visits on all his mopey characters such calculated savagery, it's hard to care much for them or to get onboard for the hope implied in the hastily stitched-on ending.
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