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:

mother | birthday | birthday party | neighbor | delivery man | 

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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

[reading from her 500-word motherhood-themed article for submission to a magazine prize contest]
Eliza: Motherhood is about accepting the limitations of time and energy which stretch beyond you, even though sometimes it feels they can consume you. Search for and hold on to your own true self. If you lose that, what kind of mother can you be? Things are always changing no matter how much we might want things to stay the same. You could take a picture of your kids every single day and every single day ...

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Connections

References The Bourne Identity (2002)

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Soundtracks

My Ship Comes In
Written by Ginny Clee, Barbara Marsh, Syd Straw, and Pete Smith
Performed by Syd Straw
Courtesy of Earnester Records

User Reviews

Give this movie a chance

I can relate to this film because being a mom is the hardest job I've ever tackled. This is the story of a difficult day in the life of a stay at home mom who is desperately trying to regain some piece of her identity apart from motherhood. To answer the question raised in one of the other reviews, "Is this motherhood" - Yes, it can be like that, relentless, thankless and exhausting. Personally, I found it refreshing that it was much more realistic than those spotless homes of movie families where nothing is out of place and the husband shares equally in everything family related so that everyone seems to live a perfect existence. I'm sure there are families out there where everyone cooperates and things run smoothly. There are just as many out there that have their serious flaws and unbalanced work loads and people who live right on the border of losing it when the things that go wrong seem to mount up and conspire against you to prevent you from getting even the simple things accomplished.

Maybe the reason some people have a problem with this movie is that it shows more reality than fantasy. Whatever the case, I say, judge for yourself, and see the flaws in humanity as they are. We don't always make the right decisions, sometimes we let each other down, and sometimes we can forgive each other and make things right again.