Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

TxMike I had heard of this movie when it came out in 1996, I heard that it was good, but never got around to seeing it. Until tonight, with my wife, on Netflix streaming movies. It is a very good movie.Written and directed by Albert Brooks, he also plays the lead role of John Henderson, Science Fiction author living in Los Angeles. He is just coming off his second divorce, and now working on his next book, but he feels "blocked." When he talks to his mother, who lives in Saucilito , he always comes away with a feeling that she doesn't really like him. So one day he decides, he doesn't ask, he will go live with his mother for an indefinite time to get sorted out. His mother is Debbie Reynolds who is just perfect in her role as Beatrice Henderson, John's mother. She is sweet but doting, as mothers often are, and their conversations seldom have a satisfying conclusion.Things are complicated by John's younger brother, Rob Morrow as Jeff , who seems to have an ideal relationship with his wife and with his mother. So John is dealing with both issues, his mother and his brother.SPOILERS: One evening when mom is out on a date John sees a box in the closet, takes it down, it is filled with notebooks of mom's writings from way before the kids came along. The stories were very good. John figured out, mom was mad because of John, when he came along she had to discontinue her writing and be a mom. But now that they both had this figured out, they could get on with their lives. And, as the movie is ending, John meets a fan, a nice single lady, and mom is at the computer, starting to write again. Her first story is about a man who moves in with his mother.

merklekranz Debbie Reynolds is terrific as the Mother who is part of Albert Brooks moving home experiment. Trying to understand his women problems leads the 40 year old, twice divorced, writer to conclude that answers lie in his old room. Though it is light weight in concept, there are many moments that anyone can easily relate to. "Mother" is not as uproariously funny as "Lost in America" or "Defending Your Life", but it is the misunderstandings between Mother and Son that eventually leads to bettering their relationship. This is one that the entire family can enjoy and relate to. ...................... Recommended - MERK

btm1 Albert Brooks seems to have made a career out of writing, and starring in, successful small films about a man (played by Brooks) who has some self-esteem issues. By small films I mean they can be shot in any city, don't require special effects, and use very good actors but ones who are not fantastically expensive at the time of the filming. I usually find his movies enjoyable, but not "rolling in the aisles with laughter" funny. (Very few shows cause me to laugh out loud, and fewer crack me up the way some of Alec Guinness' classic comedies did.)This film is no exception. It is not the funniest or wittiest film of our time, but it is funny, witty, insightful and points out the humor of the human condition. In this case the story is about a writer (Brooks) who has recently been divorced, again, and is trying to understand why his marriages, and relationships with women in general, have been so unsuccessful. He realizes that the common factor in his marriages is that he marries women who are not supportive of him; they don't see him as a successful author. He comes up with the idea that his problem with women stem from his relationship with his mother (played delightfully by multi-talented Debbie Reynolds), who always finds fault with him but dotes on his younger brother (played by Rob Morrow), a sports agent with a wife and children. So he decides to try an experiment of moving back into his old room in his mother's house to try to learn more about why they interact the way they do.Woody Allen also writes comedies that are strong on character, but Allen seems to me to be on a higher tier, with more complex characters and deeper situations. I don't see Brooks as the West Coast Allen.

Rosemary (zelda1964) Albert Brooks and Debbie Reynolds star in this family mayhem of laughs; When A 40 year old sci-fi novelist tries to work out life and relationships, he wants to move back in with Momma(Reynolds). He wonders about his divorces, and hopes to solve his problem. Rob Morrow plays brother Jeff, someone who needs a bit of therapy himself. Lisa Kudrow, also stars as sister-in-law Linda.What John realizes, is that his mom was not always "perfect" as he had imagined. Jeff,apparently gets messed-up, and John becomes the most well-adjusted son.This viewer thinks crazy film is sweet, that you want to analyze your own Life as John does. Bravo and Wonderful!