Smother (2008)

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

After being fired from his job, an everyday guy faces pressure from his wife about having a baby, while having to deal with his suffocating mother, who has decided to move in with the couple. I'm still trying to understand if Smother is actually a movie and not a parody and how much was Diane Keaton paid to actually star in this film? Because her acting was truly awful, the same goes for Dax Shepard and Liv Tyler. Many of the jokes don't land, the characters are forgettable at best and many of the situations that they get into were pretty retarded. Don't waste your time or your money to this for no reason it doesn't deserve it people.

Watching Smother was perhaps the longest not-quite-90-minutes of my life. There wasn't a laugh to be had; in fact, I don't remember ever cracking a smile. Diane Keaton was horridly unfunny as a middle-aged chain-smoking dog hoarder, the textbook overbearing mother character, a relentlessly irritating woman who clearly suffers from some kind of personality disorder. She is manipulative, conniving, melodramatic, childish, narcissistic, and worst of all, boring.I suppose I should briefly mention the other characters, but why bother? It was just a long string of movie clichés--the dippy, socially inept distant relative who's just trying to break into "The Industry", the gruff and long-suffering but somehow still lovable father, the mild- mannered wife who just can't take it anymore (but eventually moves beyond the discord and resignedly comes home), the herd of unhousebroken dogs who like to chew throw pillows while everyone is away, etc.God, what a snore. I've never been a Diane Keaton fan and Smother only reminded me why. Overacting is overacting, no matter how many pictures you did in your prime. Her attempts at physical comedy were especially humiliating. What was the director thinking?While I like Dax Shepard and can even sometimes tolerate Liv Tyler, their performances were so lackluster and dull that it was clear that neither actor gave a damn about this movie. That was okay, because neither did I. Keaton's endless self-absorbed prattling was intolerable and at times Shepard's dislike for her seemed genuine. By the end of the movie I wanted to slap her myself.Awful.

I didn't expect too much from this one, although I'm hugest Diane's fan, but I thought it sort of "Mama's boy". It was a very pleasant surprise, that it was really NICE movie!! It's a shame, that it hadn't wide release!!!!! First of all, Diane's playing my own mother first part of the movie, and I laughed hysterically!! Marylinn is eccentric and crazy, but it's not Diane Keaton's own craziness and eccentricity. She invented some really hilarious behavioral mannerisms, so it really makes you laugh hard. Second part of movie Diane's playing me 30 years later from now, and that's why I cried... It was my own speech on Helen Cooper funeral: "I spend all my life, trying to please anybody and be whomever they expect me to be, but just not REAL ME. And for what? I prefer to stay alone now, than be surrounded by the strangers, who pretend to be my family" (not exact quotation, but it just exactly ABOUT MY OWN LIFE, people... It makes me think seriously, do I want to find myself in the same miserable condition at 60,like Marylinn Cooper?.. Liv Tyler is a sweetheart and Dax Shepard is REALLY GOOD too. My husband laughed at the scene, where manager in carpet-store teaches Noah how to sell carpets behind the old lady. And also, I'm sorry, but the moment of Helen Cooper death is Hilarious!!!! So, the movie is really worth watching! I truly loved it! Thank you, creators!

Whatever happened to Keaton is what I want to know.Actually I don't, I crawled away, heaving, thinking she must owe half the bookies in Vegas, or maybe not, maybe she was just brainwashed, blackmailed and bored to death. Rich enough to adopt a third-world country, she somehow had to star in yet another cookie-cut, cliché-ridden drool'athon, based on the same character-franchise she's been rehashing since 'Father of the Bride'('91). You'd think she's going head to head with Mr.Bean.(Spoilers) So hubby (Dax) get's fired by obnoxious son of boss, his mom (Keaton)leaves his dad after classic row, and crashes over with her own dog-show in tow, oh those little rascals. Hubby's got cold-feet for diaper-duty, wifey's clock a-ticking and hey, let's toss in a space-cadet as second house-guest for good measure, all in one day because that's so funny and original. Wife gets fed up and walks away, mom leaves dad for space-cadet and the couple makes up in time for closing credits, 86 very long minutes later.Now if you have to have a space-cadet, he can't be devious as well, he can't scheme some excuse for his stayover, and if mom leaves dad, she can't hop into a cab dressed as a pumpkin just because some scriptwriter agonized over how to cheer thing up. Plus that gag whereby they invite her in only to then discover she's got her canine entourage in the cab has got to be outlawed by now. And you only get one obnoxious 2-dimensional boss to denigrate. Another movie-killer would be the movie-script the space cadet is toiling away at, supposedly more lame than the actual one, again, dejas-ad-nausea.Liv Tyler doesn't seem happy here, her voice was weird at times, it had me wondering if they later had her redub some of it, and she's a smart one, she's handled great roles and we'll forgive her for Jersey Girl, it was disaster-prone, could happen to anyone. Dax Shepard was watchable and that's being generous considering the material.Personally, it's the director, the screenwriters and especially the producers that I would love to see tar'n'feathered before shipped to Guantanamo as playthings for the prisoners, and that's me keeping this 'lite'.