Motherhood

Katherine Dieckmann's 'Motherhood' looks at the day in the life of city-dwelling mother Eliza Welch. Mothers could easily relate to Eliza's day-to-day struggles in being there for her family, in trying to find passion in life and in attempting to just make it through the day (although the film really does exaggerate these situations). Perhaps non-mothers, especially husbands and children who take their hardworking mothers for granted, could appreciate more of the effort and sacrifices mothers make. Many tend to see Thurman's Eliza as whiny and bitter but which mother hasn't had one of those days? Much of her frustration is also to do with the fact that she has just realized how fast her daughter is growing up and is trying to hold on to her childhood.

I did find the characterization of the Eliza's husband halfbaked. At first he appears to be this slacker jerk who doesn't do anything while the poor wife is working hard to make ends meet, then in the second half, the writer tries to make him this kind loving husband who cares about his wife and attempts to redeem him by the end twist (with the envelope). So what would have happened had he not received it? Would he have remained the frustrated jerk? It just felt forced as if the writer wanted to quickly round things up.

Uma Thurman does a decent job. She is supported well by the rest of the cast, especially Minnie Driver.

'Motherhood' does tend to be far-fetched at times. An example is the scene where Eliza tries to drive away. However, overall, it's not all that bad of a movie.