'night, Mother (1986)

Good movie but grossly overrated

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Tough, unyielding screen-version of Marsha Norman's play which can hold a lot of interest for select viewers, the theme of suicide being an uncomfortable one for the mass-market. Director Tom Moore doesn't try to disguise the stage origins of the material but, because of his mundane, straightforward handling, the piece doesn't grip the viewer the way live actors on the stage can. It has also been handicapped by the casting, with Anne Bancroft and Sissy Spacek portraying mother and daughter. They're marvelous actresses--and both are fine in this movie--but I never felt they were related (Kathy Bates played the daughter on stage, but was probably too old to be cast alongside Bancroft). Because she always does wonders with roles of conflicted young women, it is Spacek who comes off as the stronger of the two; she really nails the part of this hapless, yet coldly focused and determined girl who wants to kill herself. Bancroft has a tendency to overdo certain scenes; she's theatrical instead of logical. The script really needed to be reworked for the screen (and for these particular ladies) and the daughter doesn't give us much of a chance to catch up to her emotionally, and so many viewers may feel shut out of the proceedings early on. **1/2 from ****

Anyone who has experienced a tragedy like this will relate, although I will caution you to give yourself a grace period. I had not seen the play, but the film with Spacek as the disaffected and resigned suicidal daughter, and Anne Bancroft as the loving, confused and overwhelmed mother.This is a complex and disturbing issue. At the very outset, Spacek has already made up her mind, and is cleaning and ordering kitchen pots and pans, food and bills, in preparation for her demise.Anne Bancroft attempts to take her daughter out of it discussing mundane neighbors, things they may do in the future, etc. Spacek is classic, we merely need to see her affect and facial expressions to realize: emotionally she is already gone, removed from the physical world. Both actresses deliver astounding, insightful performances.Those who are interested in this theme may also appreciate the original film, "The Bell Jar", with Julie Harris and Marilyn Hassett (circa 1979) which dissects the complex dynamics and denial of crisis between mother and daughter, and the resulting effects. Another film I would highly recommend is the lesser known film (circa 1982)with Chad Lowe, Howard Hesseman, Mariette Hartley (who lost her own father to suicide) and Charlie Sheen, a very astute portrayal of suicide and family dynamics. All these films are highly recommended, particularly due to the sensitive treatment of this important, and often avoided subject matter. 10/10.

Written for the stage by Marsha Norman, 'NIGHT, MOTHER opened on Broadway in 1983 with Anne Pitoniak and Kathy Bates in the roles of Thelma and Jessie Cates. It proved a stunning success with critics and audiences alike, running 380 performances, receiving the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, a Tony award for Best Play, and Tony nominations for Pitoniak, Bates, and director Tom Moore.In 1986 Marsha Norman herself adapted the play to film. The roles of Thelma and Jessie went to Anne Bancroft and Sissy Spacek, and in the process of writing--and possibly under pressure from producers--Norman expanded the original play to include characters mentioned but never seen. The result was something slightly less than ideal. Spacek is perfectly cast as the suicidal Jessie, but although she gives an excellent performance Bancroft is intrinsically miscast in the role of Jessie's "plain country woman" mother. The expansion of the original story also has the effect of diluting the claustrophobic intensity of the original. As for director Tom Moore, although his work for the play was memorable, his work with the film was unremarkable.But unexpectedly, such is the power of the story's basic premise that these flaws hardly matter. Watered down, fiddled with, and somewhat miscast, 'NIGHT, MOTHER is still a knock-you-flat story that raises the sort of questions that keep you awake on a sleepless night. Thelma is an ordinary, uneducated woman who takes life as it comes; Jessie, however, is an uneasy mixture of introspection and uncertainty, a woman whose marriage failed when she developed epilepsy, whose son has become a bit of gutter trash, who has over the years become a recluse in her mother's home. She's tired of the whole thing, and on this particular evening she informs her mother that in a few hours she's going to shoot herself and put an end to it.Like the play, the film is essentially an emotional explosion between the two women, Jessie spelling out her reasons for her suicide, Thelma working to turn Jessie from it. Although the suspense of the film arises from a "Will she do it or not?" situation, the real interest here is in Jessie's motivations, the how and why of her decision, and the tactics that Thelma uses in an effort to bring Jessie's plans to a grinding halt, and the way they battle each other over the course of the film. The interest is in the characters, plain and simple.As noted, Bancroft is not ideally cast here. It is extremely difficult to accept her in the role of Thelma Cates. Even so, Bancroft gives it all she has--and the end result is quite powerful as acting pure and simple, a remarkable feat. But the real powerhouse here is Spacek: we believe her, never question her in the role, and buy into it from start to finish. Even with Bancroft's miscasting, the dilution of the play, and the uninspired direction, Spacek's performance is more than enough to render the film powerful, memorable.This is not a film that I casually recommend. It rather depends on the viewer's life experiences, and I would hardly send it off to a person in a depressed state of mind or one who had a suicide in the family. But it is worth the trouble it takes to seek out, particularly if it leads you on to reading the play itself--or better yet, seeing a stage production of the same.GFT, Amazon Reviewer

I hadn't seen this movie since it's original release. It is still amazing and so moving. One of the most interesting aspects of this movie is the way it was filmed I don't feel it will ever seem "dated". I vigorously recommend this movie to allow someone to view yet another aspect of a mother/daughter relationship. Sissy Spacek is outstanding in her demeanor in discussing her desires with her mother, and Anne Bankroft is heart wrenching in her portrayal of a mother hearing of the tortured lonely life of her child and unable to do anything to help her. The film's intimate feeling allowed you to be right in the kitchen with them while they organize and clean their way through an inconceivable conversation. One I pray I will never have to have with my child.