The Good Mother

I'm cautious about films with a message: they are too easily heavy-handed and preachy, or on the other extreme capable of producing a mass "understanding" that is actually untrue ("The Klansman/Birth of a Nation" comes to mind). Films dealing with sexual attitudes can very glibly preach either "damnation for transgression" or "freedom from repression" with equal superficiality. This film is remarkable for painting all its characters with dimension: no one is evil, but everyone can be weak, afraid, and make poor decisions with good yet fearful intentions. The acting is terrific, so you feel satisfied at having seen a movie of quality at the same time you feel frustrated, infuriated, and finally exhausted by the outcome of the plot. Another example of Leonard Nimoy's excellent qualities as a director, forever lost - I'm afraid - in the strange perception that his work in Star Trek makes all of his career somehow lightweight.