Smother (2007)

After he's fired from his job, an everyday guy faces pressure from his wife to have a baby and from his mom, who has decided to move in with the young couple.

Director:

Vince Di Meglio

Writers:

Tim Rasmussen, Vince Di Meglio

Stars:

Diane Keaton, Dax Shepard, Liv Tyler

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Diane Keaton	...	Marilyn Cooper
Dax Shepard	...	Noah Cooper
Liv Tyler	...	Clare Cooper
Ken Howard	...	Gene Cooper
Jerry Lambert	...	Donnie Booker
Selma Stern	...	Helen Cooper
Mike White	...	Myron Stubbs
Steven Christopher Parker	...	Dana
Henriette Ivanans	...	Therapy Receptionist
Frank Crim	...	Bob
Eddie Frierson	...	Ralph
James Taku Leung	...	Hartanto
Matt Steinauer	...	Carpet Bazaar Mascot
Rachel Cannon	...	Waitress
Tara Moore	...	Pippi

Storyline

What would you do if your mother moved in with you and just wouldn't leave? When NOAH COOPER, 29, is fired from his job as a therapist, he thinks his day can't possibly get worse. When he arrives home his already full house gets even crazier when MARILYN, Noah's overbearing mother arrives with her five dogs in tow needing a place to stay. Comedy ensues as Noah learns to deal with the pressures of finding a job, a wife who desperately wants a baby, and worst of all a mother who won't quit smothering!

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Plot Keywords:

brunette | fired from the job | absurd humor | sensuality | husband wife relationship | 

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Taglines:

Everyone wants to be loved. Just not this much.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, some drug material and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 April 2008 (Taiwan)

Also Known As:

Casamento em Dose Dupla

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Scion Films, Carsey-Werner Company, Double Edge Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The production shoot for this picture went for 25 days.

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Quotes

Noah Cooper: Is there anything else I should know about? Any other lies?
Marilyn Cooper: You wet the bed until you were six, the noise in your closet at night really was a ghost, and you were held back two times in the first grade.
Noah Cooper: I'm thirty-one?
Marilyn Cooper: Thirty-two.

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Connections

References Murder, She Wrote (1984)

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Soundtracks

"Pass the Dutchie"
Performed by Musical Youth

User Reviews

An Off-Kilter Screwball Farce of a Needy Mother and Her Put-Upon Son

I have an unexplainable fondness for this slight, oddball 2008 comedy. It's not the catastrophic train wreck others would have you believe it is. Instead, director/screenwriter Vince DiMeglio has concocted a screwball farce with off-kilter characters that alternate between endearing and irritating, often in the same moment. The film is by no means a significant milestone in cinema, but it does generate some unexpected laughs mostly due to Diane Keaton's freewheeling performance. The Oscar-winning actress may appear to be slumming here, but her dexterity is put to the test as one incredibly needy and critical mother.

Usually a second banana in films, Dax Shepard ("Baby Mama") plays Noah, a physical therapist who gets fired and wants to change his luck by starting his own practice. Married to Clare, a schoolteacher who wants to have a baby badly, he finds his wife's cousin Myron, a dweeby screenwriter wannabe, parked on the couch. Later, Noah's mom Marilyn drops by unexpectedly after a big fight with his father. She moves in with her five dogs, all named Sammy Higgins, and together they find jobs at the carpet store where used to work. Her flighty incompetence gets them both fired, and things get even worse from there.

Shepard relies heavily on a deadpan delivery to carry his performance. Liv Tyler ("The Lord of the Rings") is sweet as Clare, and Mike White ("The Good Girl") manages to make his creepiness oddly likable. But it's Keaton who amps up her innate zaniness to draw a beleaguered level of sympathy to a character that could have been buried in sitcom-level clichés. For evidence, watch her work the scene in the Denny's-style restaurant or trade barbs with Shepard in the funeral scene. Production values are on the modest side. The 2009 DVD features an entertaining commentary track from DiMeglio (who reveals that the story is somewhat autobiographical) and a brief making-of featurette.