One of the surprises of the TIFF coverage I’ve read so far has been the notably enthusiastic reception for Rodrigo Garcia’s “Mother and Child.” It’s a film I confess hadn’t been on my radar at all until now, despite my high regard for Garcia’s quiet, character-oriented work in film and especially television.
“Mother and Child” seems to further carve his cinematic niche of tasteful, female-focused ensemble dramas, so I was expecting the same kind of warm, if slightly reserved, critical reaction that greeted “Nine Lives” and his underrated debut “Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her,” but so far, “Mother and Child” seems to be aiming higher than that.
Jeff Wells was eager to be first on Monday, gushing that it was “a super-sensitive, perfectly acted and exquisitely written adult drama” and “a Best Picture contender — guaranteed, hands down, take it to the bank.” He then rather spoiled his own party by later admitting that he’d skipped the film’s last half-hour, which he later found wanting — but still generally stands by the film.
Fortunately, other critics who had presumably sat through the whole film were also generous with their praise. Screen International’s Tim Grierson calls it “a wonder of good acting and finely-calibrated small moments,” while Todd McCarthy ‘s similarly-toned review declares it “an insightfully observed and exceptionally acted ensemble piece.”
Both critics have some quibbles with the storytelling, but the performances of Annette Bening, Naomi Watts and Kerry Washington have seemingly met with across-the-board approval. Bening is getting the most prominent notices, with several critics suggesting her work here ranks with the best of her career. An overdue actress in the eyes of many, Oscar buzz is starting to circle around her again. (In which case, we can confidently say that Hilary Swank will win her third statuette in March.)
So far, only Wells has mentioned Best Picture possibilities, but if the film is equally warmly received by audiences, there could be something to that. One of the classes of film that could stand to benefit from the expansion of the Best Picture category — more likely, I’d wager, than the populist sci-fi and comedy advocated by so many — is women’s cinema, particularly of the more prestige-leaning variety.
That said, there are already a couple of titles looking to test the strength of that demographic in the Academy. Some still think that “Julie & Julia” is a contender for the top race, while the buzziest titles include many that are female-centred: “An Education,” “Precious,” even “Bright Star.” But if a campaign for Bening gets off the ground, it’s not inconceivable that she could take the film with her.
Comments
21 responses to “Could ‘Mother and Child’ corner the female vote?”
love annete bening, great in american beauty, should have won, but i wont start that fight
Haha, you just did. I kid, I kid. But Hilary Swank’s win that year is one of the category’s all-time greatest, in my eyes.
“(In which case, we can confidently say that Hilary Swank will win her third statuette in March.)”
Ha ha, I love it!
I’d love for Benning to win this year, if only to beat Swank (assuming she’s nominated too)….who was very deserving both times, but whatever Benning wants to say, that had to hurt.
haha it would be epic if Hilary won her third, just to see the look on Annette’s face! I love Annette, but I hope Naomi Watts is getting good notices for this too! She is also an undervalued actress with great range (and who I think is overdue for Oscar attention…she only has one nomination!!!)
There aren’t really that many slots left for grabs.
The Hurt Locker
Invictus
The Lovely Bones
Nine
Precious
Up
Up In The Air
That’s a pretty safe 7.
Then you have
A Serious Man
Avatar
Amelia
An Education
A Single Man
Bright Star
^ lots of A’s there
I don’t see how Mother and Child can get in with so many other films going after female voters , films directed by female directors no less.
Only one of the nine segments in Nine Lives is not awful, but I can definitely see the Academy arbitrarily embracing Garcia this year.
Variety touted Samuel L. Jackson’s performance. Does he finally have some gold in his future?
A “pretty safe 7” … with three unseen films. Okay.
If we could call things that clearly in September, then in the days of five nominees, the Best Picture lineup would have been set in stone every year by now. Just saying.
Saw it this afternoon — it’s terrific. Jackson’s extremely good and understated, but the part is very small and he has no “clip” scenes.
I love that there’s been so much talk about the strong presence and quality of female artists. This really must be bringing Nathaniel Rogers some smiles. But I’m wondering if it’ll stay this strong next year, or if all this goodwill proves to be a passion of the moment. Guess we’ll see.
“There aren’t really that many slots left for grabs.
The Hurt Locker
Invictus
The Lovely Bones
Nine
Precious
Up
Up In The Air
That’s a pretty safe 7.
Then you have
A Serious Man
Avatar
Amelia
An Education
A Single Man
Bright Star”
I’m sorry, this is insane. Not only are three of those movies complete unkown entities, but “Up” is still an animated film, which we know means that it has lots of work cut out for it.
To call any of those “safe” is extremely poor judgement.
wouldn’t it be fantastic if swank won, but bening rushed the stage?
I’d prefer it if Kanye West rushed to the stage on her behalf. “Imalitchufinish, Hilary, but Annette gave the best performance of all time! OF ALL TIME!”
Does “Mother and Child” have a distributor planning to release it this year?
Not yet.
@ Chase and Guy
don’t shoot the messenger. The guy that pays the light bills there also has 6/7 in his 10 as of 9/14 as do many many many many Oscar pundits.
You dont need a crystal ball, even in mid-September when you dealing with 10 nominees.
Extremely poor judgement and insanity is not aknowledging the writing on the wall. Let me know when you pull your head out the sand Chase.
Guy, “that’s not true.” :)
Re: Guy’s original statements on Bening’s nomination chances, I started laughing heartily even before the ‘Swank’s third Oscar’ punchline, at which point I almost started convulsing with laughter. I’m glad no one was around my cubicle at that moment!
I would LOVE to see both of them up again this year, just for the humor of that situation.
(For the record, I would have given the award to Swank for Boys Don’t Cry and Bening for Being Julia, which I thought was delicious.)
Reviews are stong for Watts as well, and she plays a different kinf of character than she’s used to (icy bitch)
But then she will have two more shots next year when it comes to awards with the Untitled Woody Allen London Movie (supp) and Fair Game (lead).
I think Naomi is a lead in Woody Allen pic.