Serial Mom

Directed by John Waters, Serial Mom follows suburban housewife Beverly Sutphin (Kathleen Turner) as she progresses from crank calls to brutal murder and is eventually tried for her crimes. Filmmaker Waters, working from his own screenplay, delivers a briskly-paced comedy that’s as silly and over-the-top as one might’ve anticipated, and it’s clear, certainly, that Serial Mom‘s mild success is due in no small part to the efforts of a quirky, eclectic roster of performers – with Turner’s gleefully broad turn as the less-than-subtle protagonist matched by such costars as Sam Waterston, Matthew Lillard, and Ricki Lake. And although the picture is rarely the laugh-out-loud funny romp Waters has surely intended, Serial Mom, which admittedly does run out of steam as it passes the one-hour mark, generally comes off as an agreeable-enough endeavor that never entirely wears out its welcome.

*** out of ****