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Mother and Child Stars; Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, Jimmy Smits, Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington, Elpidia Carrillo, Cherry Jones, S. Epatha Merkerson and Amy Brenneman Director/Scriptwriter: Rodrigo Garcia Sony Pictures Classics Rating: R for sexuality, nudity and language Running Length: 127 minutes Is it too early to mention possible Oscar nominations? I don’t think so. Mother and Child has Annette Bening, Jimmy Smits, Samuel L. Jackson and Naomi Watts to consider. The film, written and directed by Rodrigo Garcia, concerns three women with issues about children, ranging from giving up a child for adoption, an unexpected pregnancy, and an impending adoption. In-between, we meet characters who make an important impression, such as Cherry Jones (the lady president from “24”) who plays a nun that is head of an adoption agency. Elpidia Carrillo is a sympathetic housekeeper and Amy Brenneman plays a doctor who roams around the word “tact.” In Mother and Child Annette Bening is unmarried and cares for her ailing mother. The house keeper (Carillo) is quiet and thorough, but always seems to bring out the harshness in Annette, especially when Carillo brings her daughter to the house. The mother, however, doesn’t mind at all. Bening has been noticed at work by Jimmy Smits, who tries to court Annette but never seems to say the right thing. When they finally connect, it is an emotional moment. Naomi Watts is a super-powered attorney who pushes herself up the ladder of success. Sleeping around seems to be her thing until she seduces her new boss, Samuel L. Jackson and something unusual happens. She starts to care. Jackson is laid-back in his role and quietly effective. Kerry Washington and her husband want a baby, can’t have one, and try for adoption. At the last minute, he leaves Kerry and she must deal with whether to continue adoption proceedings as a single parent, or forget the whole process. The people in this film have tough decisions to make. Continue looking for a child given up for adoption? Continue adoption proceedings on their own? Change a lifestyle to accommodate new circumstances? Love someone enough to overlook personality flaws? Nothing is simple here, yet it rolls out in front of you in unexpected ways. What decision would you make, you may ask yourself. The stand-out performance is Annette Bening as a woman who knows she is unpleasant to people and doesn’t know how to stop. She meets a man who loves her and she can’t accept it. She can’t accept herself. Jimmy Smits is the man who loves Annette. Now here is a Jimmy Smits, dressed in casual clothes, bringing tomatoes to his friend, a pleasant word for everyone and won’t give up on Annette. Naomi Watts and Samuel L. Jackson live in the ethereal world of corporate attorney’s, yet they become friends and lovers. Beneath the surface of legal briefs and courtrooms are two lonely people of different ages, who comfort each other. Director/writer Rodrigo Garcia (Nine Lives) deals with emotion in this film. It is laid out in front of you. A story of babies, children, teens and adults, centered on women and men are quietly on the sidelines. What is love as shown here? It is all encompassing, from birth to death. Copyright 2010 Marie Asner
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