MotherTime

Who

Caroline Townsend - (Gina McKee) Drunken bitch, locked in the basement, Pianist.

Vanessa Townsend - (Kate Maberly) Acting mother looking to get the real one back.

Dominic Townsend - (Zohren Weiss) Genius little brother, dry sense of humor.

Sasha & Amber Townsend - (Megan & Rosey DeWolf) Little blond twins.

Robin Townsend - (Anthony Andrews) Propagates often, like to be looked after, Barrister & Novelist.

Suzy Q - (Imogen Stubbs)Perfect little Miss, hate her with a passion, Robins new wife and his editor.

Bart - (Ian Reddington)Married man who was having affair with Caroline.

Ruby - (Rosalind Bennett) Married to Bart, but not for long.

Lot - (Felix Ball) Son of Bart, decides Caroline is evil, handy with a chainsaw.

When

1997

Where

Im pretty sure its in London, but its definitely in England. In the huge family home with convenient Sauna/Dungeon.

What

When Mum comes home rotten drunk late on Christmas Eve, throws up in the punch bowl, sets the tinsel on fire, verbally and physically abuses her eldest daughter before passing out, the kids see one only way to ensure that she doesnt "wreck this christmas".

So Caroline (the mother) is dragged downstairs to the now-absent fathers sauna in the basement. Made comfortable and locked up, initially this is just so the kids can enjoy Christmas without more regurgitation and insults. However when Caroline wakes up and threatens to have Vanessa institutionalised, they realise Mums imprisonment will have to be stretched out until she's a bit more reasonable.

But Vanessa, Dominic, and the adorable twins Sasha and Amber obviously possess more maternal instincts than their mother. Caroline is provided with food and clothing, later books and other entertainments but most importantly for a few hours of every day she has the undivided and loving attention of her four estranged children, called Mothertime.

This ruse would not be possible without some pretty extensive neglect from both parents, Caroline is the consumate alcoholic with a cold and vicious attitude and as such doesent really have anyone to miss her. A breakup with her married boyfriend Bart, which resulted in the bile spilling we saw on Christmas eve is followed by a call from Vanessa to his wife and keeps him out of the picture.

Vanessa can mimic Carolines voice so she fires the nanny and puts off Dad and the housekeeper, either way her absence is more a cause of relief that concern, and the detox continues for several weeks. Acutally it could be longer, because at one point we see the kids going back to school but I dont know when the English school year starts(?).

And its during this time that the movie escapes from being pidgeon holed as an anti-alcohol morilising after school special to a sad insightfull look at how the children of a divorce interpret whats going on around them.

As far as Vanessa's concerned Caroline is the sole villain and drove their noble father away, and she makes no bones about the fact that the ultimate goal of making mum better is to win dad back. From the outset we can see exactly how she came to these conclusions, but the more you see of Robin and the way he interacts with both the kids and his new wife the disgustingly perky Suzie-Q as Vanessa calls her, the more you see him as a manipulative bastard. He loves the adoration his kids lavish on him as he pops into their lives for a few hours at a time, but wont take them on. Along a similar vein he is cozily settled in with his Editor Suzy who obviosly dotes on him and puts up with his condescention, but at the same time he still postures as the much put upon martyed ex-husband of insane alco (amazingly he does this with absolutly the same patronizing air he just dished up to Suzy).

Mothertime, follows a well worn path in terms of raw plot, with Vanessa finally having to relinquish her idea of Dad as the maligned hero. But this girl as well as being incredibly insightful and mature is also stubborn as a mule when it comes to how she sees people. For example when Robin tells Vanessa (thinking shes Caroline over the phone) that Suzy is pregnant, not only does she ignore his comment of "I think they'll get upset over this, so I want you to tell them" but when Vanessa sees him and tells him that she knows Suzy has forced him into it, rather than reassure her that it was mutual and this will make them all much closer as a family (or some other semblance of truth) he instead reasons "well it was her idea, you could say that", does this guy like being percieved as the victim or what!

And of course we get to see Carolines return to the land of the living. It says a lot of Gina Mckee's skills as an actress, that she can take the most disgusting of characters and reform her while showing that she may be a drunken mess but she had a lot of help from her noble husband, with out making us see her as A) a victim or B) an object of pity.

There are also glimmers throughout the periods of alcoholism and the drying out, of the charismatic and caring person Caroline was before her life went down the toilet. And that goes a long way to making Vanessa's quest to 'fix' her mother achievable. 'Cus lets face it some people are bad drunks and some are just bad people and when you dry them out you find yourself with nothing more than a lucid arsehole.

Oh yeah, and when shes all dried out and happy, she still looks like an ex-alco not some peppy little fresh as a daisy English girl, which is refreshing in itself.

There is also this other story thread that revolves around Bart (the guy Caroline was having an affair with) and his divorce from Ruby and how this effects his teenage son Lot, who truly loves Ruby and cant bear the idea of loosing her. Much like Vanessa he declares Bart innocent and decided that Caroline must be evil so thus, starts staking out the house and following Vanessa around. His plans go awry when he fall for Vanessa and it is he in the end who releases Caroline saying "I thought I was supposed to kill you but now I realise Ive got to free you", not exactly a reassuring thing to come from a guy with a chainsaw.

I think I already commented on the amazing performance delivered by Kate Maberly as Vanessa, who makes a character able to come up with and excecute the imprisonment entirly reasonable, and shoulders her role as homemaker of the family quite well during the earlier scenes, especially the turkey scene, Im 23 and I dont think Im willing to take on a Turkey yet.

Seeing as how this is a movie about some siblings locking their mother in the basement it was inevitable that there would be child actors in this movie and I think every single posturing, mischevous, whining child actor in Hollywood should be forced to take lessons from Zohren Weiss. He plays Dominic, Vanessa's genius little brother, not only is he far from annoying, he's earnest without being cutsy and can deliver lines like "Did you know they have to give you a proper funeral even if they only find a leg" so that they make you laugh not cringe (I always thought the similar scene in Jerry McGuire was really contrived, plus I hate that kid).

The identical twin blonde girls Sasha and Amber (Megan and Rosey DeWolf respectivly, I want their surnames) provide a massive cuteness quotent and arent at all annoying, but dont add a lot to the story, so their neither a positive or a negative more a nuetral point.

Imogen Stubbs as Suzy nails the part and thus she's annoyingly perfect but in no way does she come accross as a caricature, the way she handles the children seems very real Suzy - Would you like some more carrots Amber Sasha - No, and Im Sasha Suzy - really, Oh Shit Considering this is said at christmas dinner with both Robin's and her parents present its quite funny, but mostly its in the delivery.

Anthony Andrews had a difficult task, as my mother would say we dont like him because were not supposed to, oh yeah and also cus he's a patronising bastard with a habit of strong arming his wives into ending their careers to bear his young. At the same time we have to see what it was about him that makes Caroline, Vanessa and Suzy love him so much. Both Suzy and Vanessa are pretty devoted and when he left her Caroline it caused her breakdown. You can see it in patches, but Im not convinced and I refuse to believe that that many woman could be so stupid. Especially his scenes with Suzy that just come across as schmultzy (is that a word).

Why?

I think that for a lot of people the opening scenes of Carolines drunken rampage upon Vanessa's carefully constructed christmas decorations will come across as very OTT. However having actually seen a few drunken bitter mothers in action (luckily not mine) I can say that McKee got the whole "My illusions been shattered so Im going to trash yours" vibe down with frightening accuracy.

Whoa!

A great big Whoa goes out to Matthew Jacobs who directed and adapted this movie from Gillian Whites book, and provided such well scripted and characterised people, and every single actor in the piece (except for Bart).