movie review with Jennifer Lopez…

In a historical moment in which the figure of the mother and the concept of motherhood are increasingly at the center of social debate, the new original film of the platform arrives on Netflix The Motheraction drama starring Jennifer Lopez. A work that in some ways arrives at the right time, proposing a relationship between mother and daughter far from stereotypes and a complex and layered mother figure. At the same time though, the good intentions of The Motherdirected by director de The lady from the Warsaw zoo e Mulan Niki Carocollide with a faded and unconvincing script, co-written by Misha Green, Andrea Berloff e Peter Craig.

The Mother seems to have been written specifically to justify the Nanni Moretti of The sun of the future, and in particular to the hilarious passage in which reference is made repeatedly to the so-called “turning points” that distinguish the platform, narrative turns that according to the fictitious representatives of Netflix should arrive as soon as possible so as not to scare viewers. Niki Caro scrupulously respects this (not?) written rule, immediately introducing us to the protagonist (dangerous sniper who we will always know as “The Mother”) at the center of a very high voltage situation, which soon leads to a shootout. While we get to know the other two main characters (a caricature Gael García Bernal and a listless one Joseph Fiennes), we discover that the mother is pregnant.

After a hasty birth, due to her dark past and her dangerous acquaintances, the protagonist is warmly invited to give the newborn Zoe up for adoption. The mother reluctantly accepts and retires to private life. Twelve years later, however, the woman is again called upon to protect her daughter, at the center of attention of her former enemies.

The Mother: Jennifer Lopez in an action drama about the concept of motherhood

After this frenetic incipit, in which the director plays her best cards, The Mother slowly deflates into an insipid and derivative story, which despite the good acting performance of Jennifer Lopez leans wearily on themes and dynamics that have been explored sooner and better on other occasions (in this sense a mention is due for Saoirse Ronan e Cate Blanchett in Hanna). Both spectacular and well-crafted action are missing Atomic Blonde o John Wickboth the fragile and improvised parenting brought to the stage admirably by Peter Pascal in The Mandalorian e The Last of Us. As the title suggests, the entire story rests on the protagonist’s controversial maternal instinct, and on her ever-changing relationship with a daughter she has never known before, and who never fails to show her hatred.

A potentially effective idea, accompanied however by the only sketchy psychologies of the protagonists. A few pungent dialogues and some lioness and cub-style training sequences are not enough to outline a relationship so full of meanings and unspoken, just as the reversal of the dynamics of affectivity to be rediscovered (almost always entrusted to a man) is not enough to support an empty and uninspired tale. In an attempt to strengthen the structure of a film that lasts nearly two hours, the screenwriters rely on a world building of a nihilistic nature, repeatedly underlining the violence inherent in the world in which the protagonists move and outlining a sinister environment of secret agents, characterized by compromise, blackmail and ruthlessness (a scene in which waterboarding is applied is particularly gory).

Jennifer Lopez is not enough

Too serious to entertain, not developed enough to shake the viewer, too derivative to leave a mark. The Mother unfortunately it turns out to be a typical action product designed for streaming, characterized by a disheartening narrative flatness and by an editing and direction that does not honor the various action sequences. We could have consoled ourselves with one of the “what the fuck” moments amiably sbertucciati by Nanni Moretti, but this time even those are missing.

The Mother is available from May 12 on Netflix.