Ensemble romantic comedies, a la Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve, play to a formula and come out the other end as feel good entertainment … and so it is with Mother’s Day. And guess what? All three are directed by Garry Marshall, for whom comedic romance with a touch of drama is stock-in-trade. In this case, the big name cast includes Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson, Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis.
As with the characters in the 2010 and 2011 forerunners to which I referred, they are involved in intertwined stories in which in this case the common thread is mothers. Expectant mums, single mums, step mums, gay mums, estranged mums, long-lost mums – mothers of all shapes and sizes get their due. The concentration is on four main story arcs.
Sandy (Jennifer Aniston) is on friendly terms with her ex, Henry (Timothy Olyphant), and the pair has two young boys whom they co-parent. But her world is rocked when he announces that he has just married a far younger woman, Tina (Shay Mitchell) – who also happens to be very attractive. Tina will, of course, now play a significant role in the upbringing of the kids. Jesse (Kate Hudson) is a happy go lucky woman with an Indian doctor – Russell (Aasif Mandvi) – for a husband and the pair has a son. Jesse also has a gay sister, Gabi (Sarah Chalke), with whom she is close. Gabi lives next door to Jesse, but she and her sister have been hiding the truth of their lives from their judgmental mother (Margot Martindale). In other words, mum has no idea Jesse married “a black man” and that Gabi is gay.
Kristin (Britt Robertson) is a sweet young woman who has an infant daughter with her adoring English stand-up comedian boyfriend, Zack (Jack Whitehall). He wants to get married and she does too, but can’t bring herself to do so until she works out who she is. You see, she was adopted. As for Julia Roberts, she is a successful television shopping channel spruiker whose life is about to take an unexpected turn. And then there is Bradley (Jason Sudeikis), the local soccer coach with two daughters whose wife died a year ago. He hasn’t worked out the best way to handle the loss with his children. So, he is now “Mr Mum”, but that is very much a work in progress.
While some elements of the story – a collaboration between four people, only one of whom, Anya Kochoff Romano (Monster-in-Law), had written a film script before – are predictable, it still has warmth and the expected humour. Some of the best lines and situations are given to Jennifer Aniston, who – you could reasonably argue – is the centrepiece of the yarn.
None of the characters are sinister. It is simply about how each of them can live the best lives they can in the circumstances in which they find themselves, in other words how they can make the most of their respective situations. The characters, not surprisingly, grow as events unfold. They become better versions of themselves.
Rated M, Mother’s Day is pleasant enough entertainment that now and again puts a smile on your face. It scores a 6½ out of 10.
Director: Garry Marshall
Cast: Britt Robertson, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, Julia Roberts
Release Date: 28 April, 2016
Rating: M
Alex First
David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television