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      The Mother

      2003, Comedy/Drama, 1h 51m

      91 Reviews 2,500+ Ratings

      What to know

      Critics Consensus

      Reid gives a fearless, realistic performance in depicting an older woman's sexual blossoming. Read critic reviews

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      The Mother  Photos

      The Mother (2003) The Mother (2003) The Mother (2003) The Mother (2003) Anne Reid as May Daniel Craig as Darren A scene from Sony Pictures Classic's release "The Mother." Anne Reid as May and Daniel Craig as Darren

      Movie Info

      May (Anne Reid) is a middle-aged grandmother who lives in Northern England with her husband, Toots (Peter Vaughan). When Toots dies while the couple is visiting their children in London, May begins to feel a sense of isolation and falls into a deep depression. Needing something new and vital to cling to, May takes refuge in the arms of Darren (Daniel Craig), a burly handyman who is not only half her age and married, but also sleeping with her daughter, Paula (Cathryn Bradshaw).

      • Rating: R (Language|Graphic Images of Sexuality|Brief Drug Use)

      • Genre: Comedy, Drama

      • Original Language: English

      • Director: Roger Michell

      • Producer: Kevin Loader

      • Writer: Hanif Kureishi

      • Release Date (Theaters):  original

      • Release Date (Streaming):

      • Runtime:

      • Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics

      • Production Co: BBC, Renaissance Films

      • Sound Mix: Surround

      Cast & Crew

      Critic Reviews for The Mother

      Audience Reviews for The Mother

      • Mar 27, 2009

        I'm happy if I never have to see this again. It's not the older woman/younger man set up, it's not the elderly nudity. No, what bothers me is that a mother could do that to her own daughter. Not to mention how Darren treated the poor old woman. I could feel her pain and fear of becoming yet another "invisible old lady whose life is more or less over", but the way she went about fixing it just wasn't right.

        Super Reviewer
      • Dec 15, 2008

        a controversial film that is more than the sum of its theme. I often felt like I was outside of this film, looking in; and I believe that sense of alienation was by design. It does an expert view of showing a woman, May, who had never really questioned her wifely duties (although, apparently didn't do that great a job of raising her daughter, who claimed she was never given the love and support she needed). When May and her husband arrive in London to visit their children, it seems like the world is going on around them and they can only watch. When the husband dies, May refuses to live in the family home, so comes to London to live with her children. She begins to feel the freedom and the breathtaking concept that she can now do what she wants, when she wants - and ends up taking a lover with none other than James Bond (Daniel Craig), who is a carpenter working on her son's flat. The sex scenes come across very real and poignant, especially May's confession that she felt that she might never be touched again. The tension comes from the fact that Craig is May's daughter's lover. The daughter is a needful thing, always turning the conversation towards herself (even while saying to May, "enough about you, what about me" - yikes!) - and their struggle over Craig fills the remainder of the film (all done in subterfuge and typical Brittish upper lip). When all the plot devices collide and May is forced (though it appears to be her choice) to return to the family digs - she walks through her son's house, much as she entered it - with their lives going on around and without her. Undeterred, she is home just long enough to pack her bags so she can take a cruise; thus getting on with her life and continuing to "become", rather than waiting to die.

        Super Reviewer
      • Oct 17, 2007

        a honest acount looking at a older women, in her 60s,falling for a much younger man played by daniel craig, and there turbulent relationship, afterwards, and how it affects her family, both leads are great, really showing emotion and settings and drama, realistic in aproach, a really honest film

        Super Reviewer
      • Jul 15, 2007

        Soap-style British chick-flick that's pleasant enough background viewing until the graphic Daniel Craig on grandmother sex scene...

        Super Reviewer

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