Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
The Good Mother (1988)
Director: Leonard Nimoy
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Heartbreak time in this rigged tug-of-love drama. Divorced Anna (Keaton) brings up six-year-old daughter Molly (Vieira) on her own, and is making out nicely until she discovers the realm of the senses in the bed of sculptor Leo (Neeson). It's a shock when Molly reports to her father (Naughton) that Leo let her touch his penis, and he sues for custody. That was in fact all very innocent, but their taking the sleeping child into their bed during sex was questionable, and Anna's lawyer (Robards) advises her to throw Leo to the wolves if she wants to keep her kid. Is it possible to combine sexual ecstasy with motherhood, asks the blurb, but that's hardly made into a universal brain-teaser, nor into a comment on society's transition from permissive '60s to staid '80s, by this special case. Performances are good, though Keaton's snorting laughs and distracted manner are a bit of an obstacle course. Three hankie job.Author: BC
Cast & crew
Director: Leonard Nimoy
Producer: Arnold Glimcher
Cast: Diane Keaton, Liam Neeson, Jason Robards, Ralph Bellamy, Teresa Wright, James Naughton, Asia Vieira full cast
Duration: 103 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations












What do you think?
Post your review now