Monster Mums
It took a movie about a monster mother-in-law to bring screen legend Jane Fonda
(Klute, On Golden Pond) out of acting retirement. And what a great job she does
of playing a possessive mum to rival that of Norman Bates’ dead mater in Psycho
(1960). But Fonda’s blueblood mum Viola Fields is no figment of our
imagination. She’s rich, spoilt and very used to getting her own way,
especially when it comes to her grown up son Kevin (Michael Vartan). While
certain aspects of the story crumble into sickening cliché, Jennifer Lopez
eventually fires up her character Charlie, Kevin’s fiancee, entering into a
smack down of wits against Fonda’s psychopathic Viola. In increasing cycles of
extremity they slug it out in hilarious fashion over whether or not the
nuptials will actually take place. (Sabotage is afoot). Both J. Lo and Fonda
come out of this one with both their acting careers in tact.
Like Fonda, writer/director John Waters (Pink Flamingos, Hairspray) also had a
ball bringing to life an extreme mother in his comedy Serial Mom (1994). As the
title suggests, this mum’s a killer – a serial killer that is. Kathleen Turner
(The Virgin Suicides, Body Heat) tackles the very proper Beverley R. Sutphin
with delicious camp gusto, a Baltimore matriarch who gets very angry if things
aren’t done according to polite society protocol. She’s more than happy to
strangle anyone wearing white shoes after Labour Day and heaven help those
leaving their empty bins on the street. She’s also not averse to flashing a bit
of sensible white underwear at a witness if it means she’ll get off a murder
charge in court. It may not be one of Waters’ best, but like all of his films,
it has a wicked sense of fun.
She may not qualify as a monster but Gena Rowlands stoic religious mother in
Paul Schrader’s Light Of Day (1987) was a harsh lady nonetheless. This film was
an anomaly for director Schrader, best known as the writer of seminal 70s drama
Taxi Driver (1978). Writing it off as his least successful film – ie most
compromised due to the inclusion of populist actor Michael J. Fox and rock star
Joan Jett - boy he was wrong. This is one great, underrated family drama using
Fox and Jett as a rock n’ roll brother and sister duo who head up pub band The
Barbusters. The film’s most emotionally resonant subplot is between Jett’s
disenfranchised character Patti, daughter to pious, emotionally distant mum
Jeanette (Rowlands), who gets into the kids for not only living a sinful life
but the fact Patti has a son out of wedlock. The conclusion is devastating,
utterly moving and one of the most authentic mother-daughter scenes ever
recreated on screen.
But back to Psycho and Mrs Bates… Hitch, you had us going. We all thought she
was real, alive and a ball-tearing mum from hell. If passive-aggression was
bottled she would have been a brewery. And that voice! It gets right under your
eyelids, as irritating as a grain of sand. Poor Norman. In the ‘Freudian movie
ending’ to end all Freudian movie endings, Tony Perkins might have had to wear
a straight jacket for the end ‘dominant personality flip‘ scene, but at least
he didn’t have to wear Mrs Bates’ wicked, dusty old lady wig. Yucky.
- Megan
Megan Spencer has spent way too much of her life in the dark, all for a good
cause though - watching movies as a professional film critic. For the last six
and a half years she has been serving the ever-increasing hunger for film and
DVD reviews as radio triple j's resident film critic, and a year ago joined the
new line up of long-running SBS-TV film review program, The Movie Show.
Every now and then she pops up into the light to make her own films,
documentaries (her latest is 'Fantastic Brutality', a documentary about an
obsessed wrestling fan, to be released next year). She has also written about
film for many publications including J-Mag, Limelight, Inside Film Magazine and
the Age Green Guide.
And the impossible question to ask a film critic: what's her favourite film?
"Blue Velvet would be at the top of the list, so would Fight Club... But then
again American In Paris makes me cry every time."
Megan has also been part of the Foxtel's Project Greenlight Australia as an
on-air panelist and judge.
Mums worth watching on DVD:
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Alien Resurrection (MA15+) 1997
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Weaver and Winona Ryder star in this terrifying, highly anticipated final chapter to the legacy. Although Ellen Ripley (Weaver) died fighting the perfect predator, two hundred years and eight horrific experiments later, she's back as a group of scientists have cloned her--along with the alien queen ...
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Anywhere But Here (PG) 1999
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A story of a mother who knows best... and a daughter who knows better. Adele is a flashy, flirtatious dreamer. Her daughter Ann is a quiet, no-nonsense realist. On the surface, they're two of a kind. "Susan is show-stopping" (The New York Times) and "Natalie Portman soars" (NY-1) in this funn...
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Crazy In Alabama (M) 1999
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In the sweltering summer of 1965, everybody in Alabama went a little crazy - especially 12-year-old Peejoe's glamourous Aunt Lucille (played with a marvellous performance by MELANIE GRIFFITH). Deciding to no longer let her abusive husband stand in the way of her dreams, she gets rid of him in a most...
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Monster-in-Law (M) 2005
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The love life of Charlotte Honeywell (Jennifer Lopez) is reduced to an endless string of disastrous blind dates, until she meets the perfect man, Kevin (Michael Vartan). Unfortunately, his merciless mother (Jane Fonda) will do anything to destroy their relationship.The best romantic comedy this year...
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Muriel's Wedding (M) 1994
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If you’ve ever dreamt of a world where ABBA charts forever, dags rule, bitchy friends get what they deserve and your parents never nag you, then you should meet Muriel Heslop... In her hunt for Mr Right in all the wrong places, Muriel buys a one-way ticket to freedom, and embarks on a madcap journey...
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Psycho (M) 1960
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Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece of the macabre stars Anthony Perkins as the troubled Norman Bates, whose "old dark house" and adjoining motel are not the place to spend a quiet evening. No one knows that better than Janet Leight, the film's ill-fated heroine who is victimized in the now-notorious "sh...
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Serial Mom (M) 1994
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Every Mom Wants To Be Wanted, But Not For Murder One! Beverly Sutphin seems like the perfect happy homemaker. A loving dentist husband Eugene and their two healthy kids Misty and Chip, the Sutphin family is as American as apple pie. The only problem is there seems to be a worm in t...
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Terms of Endearment (M) 1983
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Widely appealing Hollywood sobfest portrays mother/daughter relationship. With its sentimental storyline, charismatic lead performances, light humor, this is a hit with lovers of mainstream comedy/dramas looking to shed some tears.
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What's Eating Gilbert Grape? (PG) 1993
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Screen idol Johnny Depp is Gilbert Grape in this acclaimed and unpredictable comedy-drama directed by celebrated film-maker Lasse Hallstrom ( My Life As A Dog ). As this happily eccentric slice of small-town life unfolds, Gilbert's destiny appears to be to keep an ever-watchful eye on his menta...
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