By Bob Grimm
F
or Mother’s Day, I have compiled a list of great movie moms, good or
evil, from cinema history. I tried to avoid some obvious choices like Mother in Psycho, Shirley MacLaine in Terms of
Endearment or Sally Field in Steel Magnolias and Forrest Gump. I went with some fringe choices representing movie moms that made an impression on me over the years. As you will probably deduce from the following list … I have serious mommy issues.
16 | RN&R |
MAY 8, 2014
DEAREST
bgrimm@newsreview.com
Our mOvie critic wOrks thrOugh his mOmmy issues
Mandy Cohen
(Terry Jones) in Life of Brian (1979):
Whether she was taking her kid to a stoning, blowing centurions so she could buy food, or just giving her son a hard time as he’s getting crucified, Mandy is the ultimate movie mom. Maybe she got a little out of hand when she scolded a naked, post-coital Brian (Graham Chapman) in public (“He’s not the Messiah … he’s a very naughty boy!”), but she did take her kid to the Sermon on the Mount. Not a lot of moms managed to do that.
Mum
(Elizabeth Moody) in Dead Alive (1992):
I’m going to have to go ahead and call this movie mom the worst ever. In addition to not letting her son date freely, she eventually eats her own ear and tries to put her kid back in her womb. This is a mom who simply isn’t willing to just let go. She also ate her son’s girlfriend’s dog, which is generally frowned upon.
Coral
(Elizabeth Perkins) in Finding Nemo (2003):
The voice of Perkins made a beautiful impression before her clownfish character got eaten by a barracuda in this Disney classic. The mom dying here was in the tradition of other Disney cartoon moms dying in the likes of Bambi, The Fox and the Hound and Cinderella (mom notably dead when film starts). For all of you thinking Dumbo’s mom died too, you are wrong. She survived until the end of the movie. She was a trooper.
Fantine
(Anne Hathaway) in Les Miserables (2012):
Say what you want of Anne Hathaway, but she’s a killer screen mom. She gets a seriously bad haircut live on screen, she gets consumption, and she delivers “I Dreamed a Dream” in one, teary take after sleeping with a yucky sailor so she can provide for her daughter. Now that’s a mom!
Mother Sister
Mother Mary
Mother Sister watched over that street in Brooklyn like a guardian angel, then screamed mightily as Sal’s Pizzeria burned to the ground, a victim of Mookie’s (Spike Lee) justifiably vengeful garbage can. I’m not sure who exactly she was mom or sister to, but she definitely had a strong mommy vibe.
In what has to be the greatest all time cinematic depiction of the Virgin Mary, Sinead O’Connor gave the young, insane protagonist in this film foul-mouthed motherly advice that must’ve enticed many a priest to throw tomatoes or grenades at the screen.
(Ruby Dee) in Do the Right Thing (1989):
Edwina
(Holly Hunter) in Raising Arizona (1987):
Well, she was an adoptive mom of sorts, but a mom all the same. She and Nicolas Cage kidnap a boy from a couple with quintuplets. (“They got more than they can handle!”) The moment in the car when she cries, “I love him soooooo much!” is the ultimate depiction of a mom’s sometimes touched-in-the-head affection for her son, and it’s not even really her son.
(Sinead O’Connor) in The Butcher Boy (1997):
Missy
(Amy Stock-Poynton) in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989):
In one of the most uncomfortable mom situations in cinema history, Missy, a former classmate of Bill’s (Alex Winter) marries Bill’s dad, making her his stepmom. This, of course, brought about Ted’s infamous line, “Remember when I asked her to the prom?” Shut up, Ted! Missy would, of course, go on to marry Ted’s dad in Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey.
