Year: 1996
Director: Albert Brooks
Country: US
Language: English
Though Woody Allen is most well known for his neurotic intellectual character, I'd argue Albert Brooks does it better in his two classics Lost in America (1985) & Mother (1996). Both are very smart comedies that seem to have slowly vanished from the public eye with time, even though neither feel or look dated. Having discovered his films through Criterion Channel, I'm developing quite a fondness for the director/actor's works.
Mother revolves around a novelist, played by Brooks, who moves back in with his mother (Debbie Reynolds) after the demise of his second marriage. Attempting to pick up the pieces of his life, jumpstart a his stalled career, and, perhaps, learn something about women, the writer finds his new lifestyle full of nostalgic challenges.
Having fallen in love with Debbie Reynolds in Singin in the Rain (1952) and The Unsinkable Molly Brown, I don't think I was quite ready to view her as a mother figure in, well, Mother (1996). She plays her part as a passive agressive, slightly controlling, parent pretty well. Her and Albert Brooks have great chemistry, as most of the humor derives from them playing off each others' weird psychological tendencies.
The writing is wonderful; in addition to being full of subtle jabs in the dialogue, the script is rife with freudian material that would be welcome in any undergraduate classroom. The comedy is top notch; rather than going for the quick and easy laugh, each chuckle that Brooks gets from his audience come well earned due to a mastery of his craft.
Mother (1996) is a fun film that deserves to have a place among the comedy greats like Airplane and Blazing Saddles. It is far more poignant and observant than both of those, albeit not as strong in visual humour. I hope the rest of his filmography is as good as this.
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