Motherhood

Written and directed by Katherine Dieckmann, Motherhood follows harried wife and mother Eliza Welch (Uma Thurman) as she attempts to both prepare for her daughter’s birthday party and complete her entry for an important writing competition – with the film primarily detailing Eliza’s episodic exploits over the course of one very long (and very eventful) summer day. Filmmaker Dieckmann has infused Motherhood with a meandering sensibility that immediately sets the viewer on edge, with the pervasive lack of momentum stymieing one’s efforts at connecting to the central character’s endeavors on a frustratingly ongoing basis. Far more problematic, however, is the almost total absence of authentic elements within the movie’s first half, as Dieckmann offers up a supporting cast populated mostly by unreasonably (and eye-rollingly) cartoonish figures. (There are many, many examples of this, but perhaps the most infuriating is the rude man who parrots back Eliza’s words during an argument.) And although the film admittedly does improve slightly as it passes the one-hour mark – Dieckmann starts stressing confrontations and encounters of an increasingly heartfelt variety (eg Eliza delivers an impassioned speech about what being a mom means to her) – Motherhood has long-since established itself as a misguided piece of work that simply doesn’t have anything relevant or real to say about parenting.

** out of ****