Mother’s Day Synopsis: Three generations come together in the week leading up to Mother’s Day.
The third and last holiday film by Garry Marshall features intersecting stories with different moms leading up to Mother’s Day. Sandy’s ex has just married a much younger woman. Kristin is contemplating marrying the father of her baby but wants to meet her birth mother first. Bradley is trying to find the right balance as a widower and single father. And Jesse and Gabi have been keeping secrets from their parents. And Miranda has given up motherhood to focus on her career.
It’s another star-studded holiday film from Marshall that’s not great but mostly okay. As with Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve, Mother’s Day is thick with sugary fluff but lacks plot… and believability. But we don’t always watch these kinds of movies for believability, do we? Leave it to Garry Marshall to introduce racism and homophobia and then “cure” it within the allotted two hours.
There’s really nothing to Mother’s Day. This epitomizes a feel-good movie because everything works out exactly as one would want. Heavier topics like the aforementioned racism and homophobia, adoption, divorce, marital lies, etc… it’s all forgiven and wrapped up with several pastel-colored bows by the time the credits roll. I’m not complaining about that fact because that’s what we expect to do, but at the same time, it just came across as so contrived and lazy.
The cast is fantastic, with Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston as stand-outs, but it’s clear this is one of those phone-it-in movies where they’re all there for a paycheck or as a favor to Marshall.
Honestly, I enjoyed watching this movie so much because of Sudeikis and Timothy Olyphant, whom I adore and wish would do more rom-coms. None of the stories were overly memorable, but some humorous moments helped save the film from being a complete dud.
Mother’s Day didn’t have as many intersecting stories as some other similar films, but it still felt a bit bloated at times. It makes me sad that this was Marshall’s last film before he passed away, preceded by Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve. Definitely not his best work, but I have to admire the man for his love of cinema and for working right into his 80s.
I can’t really recommend Mother’s Day as a must-see film, but if you like the goopy fluff that are these holiday rom-coms, then I say go for it. Maybe goopy fluff is what we all need right now while living in a dumpster fire that is planet Earth.
Watched: 05/08/2022
Notable Song: Photograph by Ed Sheeran
