Motherhood (2009)

In Manhattan, a mother of two preparing for her daughter's sixth birthday party has no idea of the challenges she's about to face in order to pull off the event.

Director:

Katherine Dieckmann

Writer:

Katherine Dieckmann

Stars:

Uma Thurman, Anthony Edwards, Minnie Driver

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Uma Thurman	...	Eliza
Anthony Edwards	...	Avery
David Schallipp	...	Lucas
Matthew Schallipp	...	Lucas
Daisy Tahan	...	Clara
Alice Drummond	...	Edith
Stephanie Szostak	...	French Neighbor
Celina Vignaud	...	Her Daughter
Minnie Driver	...	Sheila
Dale Soules	...	Hester
James Lecesne	...	Annoyed Man
Marceline Hugot	...	Curious Tourist
Victor Colicchio	...	Roofer in Truck
Brian Tarantina	...	Opera Lover in Car
Kerry Bishé	...	Good Sharing Mom

Storyline

Eliza Kendall Welch (Uma Thurman), mother of, Clara, and Lucas, lives with her spouse, Avery McKendrik (Anthony Edwards), in an Manhattan apartment. Today is May 25th, Clara's 6th birthday, and she has to make arrangements for a party, as well as attend to day-to-day chores, including Blogging, and entering an online contest 'Motherhood', and looking after her invalid elderly neighbor and a dog. Things will slowly get out of hand after her car gets towed due to a film shooting; the tire on her bike gets punctured; she alienates herself from her friend, Sheila (Minnie Driver); Clara's name is misspelled on the cake; while Avery refuses to answer his cell-phone. After being assisted by a delivery man, Nikesh (Arjun Gupta), who finds her attractive, she concludes she has had enough, and decides not to return home.

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Plot Keywords:

pacifier | mother | birthday | birthday party | neighbor | 

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Taglines:

There are no time-outs in...

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language, sexual references and a brief drug comment

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 August 2009 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Uma Mãe em Apuros

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$50,081, 25 October 2009, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$92,900, 15 November 2009

Company Credits

Production Co:

John Wells Productions, Killer Films, iDeal Partners Film Fund

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Grossed $100,000 in the USA in 2009 and, in its UK opening weekend, took a total of £88 - equating to about 11 tickets sold, allegedly making this the lowest grossing film ever released in the UK.

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Goofs

Eliza refers to Pylon as "The Pylons".

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Quotes

Woman in Bakery Line: You have to admit it's your own fault. If you have named her Sophie or Ella you wouldn't be having this problem. But you gave her an Edna name.
Eliza: A what?
Woman in Bakery Line: You know, an Edna name? Like Mabel or Agnes or Velma...
Bakery Clerk: Yeah like lesbian librarian names.
Woman in Bakery Line: Don't you read the Crankypants Post? She did a whole thing last week about names, it was genius.
Eliza: Well, yes, I mean I do read her but I like other parenting blogs better. What about Bjorn Identity?
Woman in Bakery Line: That woman is so... I dunno. I think she's a feminist.
Eliza: Well...
[...]

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Connections

References The World of Strawberry Shortcake (1980)

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Soundtracks

Largo al Factotum
from The Barber of Seville
Written by Gioachino Rossini
Courtesy of Extreme Music

User Reviews

Parody and Reality maybe

The way it started I thought it was an amusing parody on the modern PC culture. It was a bit a awkward initially but I was focusing on the parody side. Later into the movie it wavered more on being pointless. It might have been meant to be a character study showing how motherhood and womanhood has changed and evolved for the last few generations. The most meaningful scene I felt was delivered by an older actress who in her statement also described what the intent of the movie might have been all about.

The movie is apparently based off a book written by the director and I have not read it. I cannot say I have been inspired to read it either.