I chose this movie for my first review because I wanted to review something popular which I hadn't seen yet, so I was coming to it from a completely unbiased perspective. This movie can be watched on Netflix for the time being. I hope you enjoy my review.
This is a feel-good drama/comedy about several moms in Atlanta, Georgia who are all going through their own various life-dilemmas, all of which (for the purpose of a happy ending) get magically solved in the space of a week. Overall, I did enjoy this movie because I tend to like movies that make me experience a range of emotions. I enjoyed seeing several familiar faces from other shows or movies. That being said, this is a review and so I'm going to focus on some of the things I did not like about the movie as well.
The main story revolves around Sandy, a divorced mom who has a very friendly and open relationship with her ex-husband Henry. As her story opens he is shown ogling her and making a comment about her "hotness" this is a setup for the coming conflict for her character. Their dynamic seems to be: strict mom/fun dad, and this comes to a head when Henry announces out of the blue that he has gotten remarried to the much younger Tina. Sandy's 13 year-old son suffers from asthma, which plays a part in the conflict resolution for her character. Sandy's story was relatable, but her story could have been told just as well, if not better, without her very obviously still being in love with her ex. It is revealed at some point that the two have been amicably divorced for 11 years, and her still pining for Henry seems like a very worn trope. Sandy's issues with Tina could be confined to being seen as "replaceable" as a mom which is something Sandy admits aloud later in the movie before receiving good advice from a very unexpected place.
One of the main problems I have with the movie is how it treats the only two LGBT characters. The second family it follows are two sisters who have both moved far from home (Texas) to get away from their bigoted parents. One of the sisters (Gabi) is gay, and the other (Jesse) is in a bi-racial marriage with a man of Indian heritage (Russel). Both are afraid to let their parents know about their relationships which causes the main conflict for this family when the parents (Flo and Earl) show up on their doorstep in an RV as an unexpected Mother's Day surprise. Gabi and Max are a very stereotypical gay couple. They are quirky (creating a womb shaped float for the Mother's Day parade), Max is butch, while Gabi comes off as more feminine. But, worst of all, they seem to exist just for the conflict with Flo and Earl and the jokes about their unique parade float. Apart from that, Max gets no screen time whatsoever and Gabi gets less than her heterosexual sister. If the movie were actually being inclusive, they might have included a transgender mom as one of the characters, or at least flushed out the two lesbian moms a little more. I also take away points for one microaggression "Indians don't get divorced" spoken by one of the white female characters as they discuss the possibility of Jessie's marriage dissolving.
It also follows a grieving widower (Bradley) who is trying to take on the role of soccer mom, which his wife filled while she was alive, and also dealing with his older teenager's period (buying her feminine products), and her showing romantic interest in someone else for the first time. A lot of the responses this dad makes to raising his daughters are very stereotypical (getting embarrassed about buying tampons, being late to soccer practice even though their mom never was). Bradley mainly exists for comedic relief but there are a few tear-jerker moments concerning his grief and what it's doing to his family.
Finally, there is Kristin and Zack a couple who have been together for five years and have a child together but are not married. The main problem I have with this couple's arc is the huge emphasis it puts on marriage. I think this is the overall theme of the movie, because Sandy is fine with Henry's relationship with Tina when it was "casual" but as soon as they get married, she starts getting upset. There is also enormous pressure put on Bradley to "move on" from his wife's death, even though grieving is something everyone must do at their own pace.
As you would expect, all the familial conflicts (even the ones that seem the least likely) are resolved by the end and everyone gets what they want. Although this makes for a feel-good ending, it also feels more like a fairy tale. No one is a bad parent, not even the ones that literally threaten to disown their kids for bi-racial marriage or being gay. That is the most unrealistic element to this movie. Prejudice does not disappear overnight, although it can diminish by exposure. That and the adopted child/bio mom situation were the most obvious candidates for a bittersweet or unhappy conclusion. However, the writers decided that even those stories had to have a feel-good/happy ending where no one is a bad person and everything is resolved.
I will say that Sandy's situation and her reactions are the most realistic of anyone in the movie. Her arc (feeling that the step-mom is an intruder who has come to replace her, and her realization that being the bigger person and accepting this change is what is best for her kids) would have seemed more realistic if the situation had taken place over a longer period of time than a week. Even still, it was the best part of the movie, (although Bradley's situation did bring me to tears a time or two).
I give this movie a 7.5 out of 10. It loses points for being pretty formulaic, but gains some for an unexpected twist for one of the character arcs (I won't spoil for anyone who hasn't seen it yet), although there was some pretty good foreshadowing and, in retrospect, I should have seen it coming.
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