The Mother is an American action-thriller film starring Jennifer Lopez in the titular role. She plays a retired army sniper who comes out of hiding when her estranged 12-year-old daughter is kidnapped by someone from her past. The film is now streaming on Netflix.
Story
The Mother is a retired US Army sniper, who goes underground for 12 years after giving up her new born baby girl for adoption. She has no choice as her enemies threaten the little girl’s life.
She got involved in illegal arms trading with two dangerous men named Héctor Álvarez and Adrian Lovell to secure her future. Being romantically involved with them both, she eventually got pregnant and discovered that they were also responsible for child trafficking.
This revelation forced her to leave and contact the FBI. After an attempt on her life that almost killed her baby, she was forced to give her to the system.
Now, 12 years later she is contacted by Agent Cruise who reveals that her daughter, Zoe is being targeted by the same men. The Mother comes out of hiding to protect Zoe and end Álvarez and Lovell for good.
Performances
The Mother is a collection of powerhouse performances, especially by Lopez and Lucy Paez (Zoe). This is one of the easier roles for the legendary Lopez who owns the persona of a skilled killer.
However, Paez is the surprise of the lot as she plays the out-of-place daughter extremely well. Her on-screen emotional expression is at par with experience actors and she matches Lopez at every step.
Omari Hardwick is intense as Agent Cruise and lives up to his limited part. The antagonists Joseph Fiennes as Adrian Lovell and Gael García Bernal as Héctor Álvarez deliver great performances, but the writing underutilizes them massively.
Positives
The Mother has some great emotional moments between Lopez and Paez, highlighting the complexities of a mother-daughter relationship. It plays on a mother’s instinct and drives to protect her offspring in a Jason Bourne-esque setting which is quite interesting to witness.
The action is well-curated. The chase sequences are high-octane, feature tasty camera tricks, and don’t feature unnecessary cuts.
Negatives
The film is extremely predictable and generic. The plot is so linear and stale that you’ve seen it in so many movies repeatedly over the years. Furthermore, it has so many moments where the narrative feels unnecessarily dragged.
The Mother also lacks consistency and depth. It treats its antagonists poorly and doesn’t care to explore their characters in detail. Also, even though the action looks great, it mainly falls in the realm of ridiculousness.
Verdict
The Mother is a generic action thriller that slightly redeems itself with great performances and thematic explorations of a mother-daughter relationship. However, its blatant predictability and sub-par writing make it a one-time watch at best.
The Mother
Director: Niki Caro
Date Created: 2023-05-14 12:23
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