That was an excellent one.

Strictly average movie

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

OMG. How did some people rate this movie highly? This old (1996) movie was shown on daytime TV today and since I'm home sick with flu I watched it. Maybe being sick has made me especially cranky, but I found this movie to be one of the most annoying things I have ever watched. It was nothing but a constant, unrelenting whinge-fest. And Albert Brooks - aaaaargh!! Just shut the hell up, ffs!!! I wanted to shout those words at the screen several times throughout. I kept hoping it would get better but it just got worse. And Debbie Reynolds, whom I have always liked in just about anything she has been in, had none of her usual warmth - in fact I found her character quite cold and, oddly, even a bit cruel. Maybe that's why the 2 sons were both so whiny. OK, I think I've said enough so I'll just finish by saying, please, please, please don't bother watching this pile of crap, find something else to do because it will just leave you feeling annoyed. A real dud of a movie.

I watched this movie with an open mind and I came out disappointed. I had never seen a movie try so hard to be funny and really wasn't! I sort of like Brooks but this movie I really didn't care for.Debbie Reynolds did an okay job as Mother. She was quite sexy in a "cougar-type" of way! Ha-ha So it's very believable when her son discovers she occasional meets up with a 'Charles'(Peter White) for occasional sex! Original choice Nancy Reagan would have been interesting casting. But she declined because of her husband's condition at the time.Rob Morrow is the other son. As Brook's brother they seemed to play off each other rather well. Lisa Kudrow appears for a bit as a blind date gone wrong for Brooks. John C McGinley appears also for a bit as Brook's pal trying to console him about his recent divorce. Others that were wasted were: Isabel Glasser as Morrow's wife, Vanessa Williams(Not the singer) as Kudrow's roommate.Joey Naber(Angel Town) had a nice bit as the TV delivery man as did Peter White as Reynold's "occasional" lover.The song by Simon and Garfunkel, 'Mrs. Robinson', was changed to accommodate the words and storyline of this movie by Brooks. Now called "Mrs. Henderson".

Miss Reynolds came out of "semi-retirement", as she likes to say, to star in this Albert Brooks comedy. She is amazing - so underplayed - so deadpan - so funny. Brooks on the other hand can be a whiner at times and you almost want to slap him for what he says to his mother, but like a good mom, she takes it and realizes he loves her deep down and doesn't mean it. The two together in their scenes are right on with pacing and the snappy dialog Brooks has written. Rob Morrow is a hoot as the jealous brother who also wants the mother's attention as well as a young Lisa Kudrow in a small, but very funny, part of a girl he goes out with after his divorce. For anyone with a mother, this film is a must!

If I enjoy a film enough to purchase it, then it means I KNOW I can enjoy repeated viewings of it, and that is certainly the case with "Mother". The story is character-driven, and the comedy is clever and often subtle, rather than being filled with broad, gag-oriented laughs--so it won't appeal to everyone. Debbie Reynolds is wonderfully understated, and does a great job of shedding the glamorous persona we're used to seeing from earlier films and TV roles. Albert Brooks is his standard but enjoyable self, and though his screen characters are known for their complaining, I never found it irritating. Lisa Kudrow has a small but funny role as one of the women Brooks dates early in the film.