Uma Thurman’s beleaguered West Village mom is having a terrible, horrible, very bad day in “Motherhood” — and it’s no picnic for us,
Whiny and self-involved, Thurman’s mother of two sees judgment around every corner and believes the universe has conspired against her because the bakery misspelled her daughter’s name on a birthday cake. Meanwhile, she can’t get in touch with her long-suffering husband (Anthony Edwards), believing he has intentionally silenced his cellphone.
Gee . . . you think?
Katherine Dieckmann’s canonization comedy aims to depict the jingle-jangle jumble facing smart women in the early 21st century, mothers trying to hold on to some semblance of self-identity as they plow through yard-long to-do lists.
But Eliza’s (Thurman) 24-hour journey invites the kind of judgment it condemns, presenting its character’s “plight” with a self-important insularity that will genuinely offend women who don’t have two adjoining apartments, loving husbands with flexible schedules and the ability to indulge in midday shopping sprees.
We see Eliza mightily multitask her way through planning her daughter’s sixth birthday party (are goody bags really that imposing?) and find the time to write a 500-word essay on motherhood.
Eliza is also a blogger, which means Thurman spends much of the movie in voice-over mode, prattling on while betraying the trust of a friend (poor Minnie Driver), failing to pick up after her incontinent dog and making you wish that movies, like cellphones, could be silenced.
“MOTHERHOOD.”
PG-13 for language, sexual references and a brief drug comment. 1 hour, 30 minutes. Written and directed by Katherine Dieckmann; starring Uma Thurman, Anthony Edwards and Minnie Driver. Opens Friday at area theaters.
