Review:
"The Good Mother"
Release Date: Sept. 1, 2023
Rating: R Running Time: 89 minutes Boasting heartfelt performances by Hilary Swank and Olivia Cooke, The Good Mother serves as a quietly powerful study in grief in the time of fentanyl. Originally titled Mother’s Milk, after the fentanyl-laced drug that fuels this street-level drama, The Good Mother opens in 2016 with Swank’s youngest son shot dead in the streets of Albany, NY. A newspaper copyeditor suffering from writer’s block, Swank’s Marissa Bennings’ journalistic instincts tells her that her son Michael—a recovering drug addict—may have been involved in selling the product that ruined his otherwise promising life. Marissa works with Michael’s pregnant girlfriend Paige—played by Cook—to identify Michael’s killer. Only Marissa does not know that Paige is in possession of a suitcase belonging to Michael that is filled with packages of Mother’s Milk. Co-written and directed by “Gaslight” podcast creator Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, The Good Mother works best when it is exploring the unlikely alliance between a mother who believes she failed her child and the girlfriend she considers to be a bad influence on her son. The tension between the anguished Swank and the tenacious Cooke is initially palpable, but the film quickly moves on from them butting heads to rightly unite them in grief. Marissa and Paige work through their issues, as well as the pain and agony Michael’s murder has left them in, with enough emotional authenticity to carry The Good Mother. Joris-Peyrafitte makes Michael’s descent into drugs as a teenager relatable to any parent who has lost a child to drugs in form or fashioned: a highly touted baseball prospect, Michael got hooked on painkillers as a result of a shoulder injury. And Joris-Peyrafitte (Pera-fee) makes us feel Marissa’s loss for and overwhelming sense of guilt toward Michael at all times during The Good Mother. But Joris-Peyrafitte’s comparing and contrasting of Michael’s unrealized potential to the modest accomplishments of Marissa’s eldest son, Toby, is too much on the nose. Played with calm and patience by Jack Reynor, Toby is the very definition of a good son: a police officer and a devoted family man, Toby is always there when needed. So, to an extent, The Good Mother is as much about what Marissa did right as a mother as she did wrong. Although, to be fair to Marissa, The Good Mother does not blame or judge her for Michael’s drug addiction. She is merely presented as a mother who recognized one son’s talent and pushed him too hard to achieve greatness at a young age. Bearing this in mind, Joris-Peyrafitte clearly views the investigation into Michael’s murder as secondary to the relationship that develops between Marissa and Paige. So he allows Marissa and Paige’s search for the truth to unfold too slowly and without any intrigue. Things also take a dark but obvious turn that sets up a tragic third act cynically designed to give Marissa a shot at redemption for any failures she experienced as a mother. Sadly, this is a betrayal of all that has come before in The Good Mother. But it does not diminish the impact of one Swank’s best performances since winning her second Oscar almost two decades ago. Robert Sims Aired: Aug. 30, 2023. Web sites: https://www.thegoodmotherfilm.com/ |
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