'night Mother (1986)
Marsha Norman’s Broadway script of ’night, Mother won a Pulitzer Prize, which makes me sick. It’s a story about an unhappy woman who tells her mother she’s going to kill herself in a few hours. The mother tries to talk her out of it, and they share an emotional couple of hours arguing, blaming, revealing, and feeling incredibly hurt, angry, and frustrated. I understand that the concept seems like it would be intriguing to theater audiences, but when you watch the play or movie all the way through, it hardly seems like suitable entertainment. Why would anyone want to put themselves through such a story? If you’ve known someone, or yourself been, terribly depressed then it’s hardly healthy to sit through two hours of reasons why life isn’t worth living. If you’re innocent and fresh, why would you want to pollute your mind with seeing two hopeless people argue – does it make you feel superior to see people with greater problems than your own?
Believe it or not, had the meat of the script been different, I wouldn’t have such heavy criticism. I understand that Norman’s script was supposed to appeal to highbrow theatre audiences, but I found the arc of the action incredibly unrealistic. When Sissy Spacek tells her mother Anne Bancroft that she’s going to kill herself, she says it calmly, with a smile, from across the room, and without even looking at her. With such an offhand delivery, it’s understandable that Anne doesn’t believe her and blows it off. But after a few minutes of insistence, any mother in the world would start to take her daughter seriously. Not in this movie. It takes Anne an entire hour to finally realize Sissy means it, and that’s when she starts to realize she needs to come up with better arguments. For an entire hour, they do little more than bicker, which just wouldn’t happen in real life. Yes, there would be a certain amount of denial and disbelief, but a good playwright should be able to utilize every minute of time to her advantage. One hour of harmless bickering followed by half an hour of real arguments (many more could have been added) isn’t efficient.
Since my criticism lies in the script, I find no fault with either actress’s performances. Whatever fault I was tempted to make, I quickly curbed and reminded myself that I merely didn’t like the written words or the motivation leading to the next arc. Both ladies are fine actresses putting their hearts into this extremely heavy movie, memorizing a ton of lines and making it look easy, and diving headfirst into a film they know most people won’t enjoy. It takes guts. If you like to appreciate performances regardless of the film, consider renting this one.
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to adult content, I wouldn't let my kids see it.
More Anne Bancroft movies here!
Believe it or not, had the meat of the script been different, I wouldn’t have such heavy criticism. I understand that Norman’s script was supposed to appeal to highbrow theatre audiences, but I found the arc of the action incredibly unrealistic. When Sissy Spacek tells her mother Anne Bancroft that she’s going to kill herself, she says it calmly, with a smile, from across the room, and without even looking at her. With such an offhand delivery, it’s understandable that Anne doesn’t believe her and blows it off. But after a few minutes of insistence, any mother in the world would start to take her daughter seriously. Not in this movie. It takes Anne an entire hour to finally realize Sissy means it, and that’s when she starts to realize she needs to come up with better arguments. For an entire hour, they do little more than bicker, which just wouldn’t happen in real life. Yes, there would be a certain amount of denial and disbelief, but a good playwright should be able to utilize every minute of time to her advantage. One hour of harmless bickering followed by half an hour of real arguments (many more could have been added) isn’t efficient.
Since my criticism lies in the script, I find no fault with either actress’s performances. Whatever fault I was tempted to make, I quickly curbed and reminded myself that I merely didn’t like the written words or the motivation leading to the next arc. Both ladies are fine actresses putting their hearts into this extremely heavy movie, memorizing a ton of lines and making it look easy, and diving headfirst into a film they know most people won’t enjoy. It takes guts. If you like to appreciate performances regardless of the film, consider renting this one.
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to adult content, I wouldn't let my kids see it.
More Anne Bancroft movies here!