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Stage Mother
A terrific performance by Jacki Weaver makes a 2020 comedy-drama called Stage Mother worth a look, despite a contrived and predictable screenplay that is set on a somewhat bold canvas but offers no surprises along the way.
The two time Oscar nominee plays Maybelline Metcalf, a conservative Texas housewife and church choir director who travels to San Francisco to attend her gay son's funeral, who died from a drug overdose, despite the fact that she and her husband Jeb disowned their son years ago. Upon arrival in the Bay City, she befriends her son's best friend, a slightly trashy single mom (Lucy Liu) and her son's lover and business partner (Adrian Grenier), who hates the woman on sight. One of the reasons he hates her is because Maybelline learns that her son left her his business, a drag bar called Pandora's Box. After visiting the place, instead of selling it, she decides to take over the business and refurbish it from the ground up.
Screenwriter Brad Hennig has sort of a novel idea here, unfortunately, the story is so predictable the viewer can practically recite the dialogue along with the actors. It's hard to buy the way Hennig turns Maybelline into this superwoman who is immediately accepting of who her son was and not only tries to keep his legacy alive, but tries to solve the problems of all the people in her son's life as well. Since her son overdosed, we learn that one of the drag queens has a drug problem as well and one visit from Maybelline, and poof, he doesn't want to get high anymore. We learn that the single mom is in an abusive relationship and, poof, Maybelline disposes of him with a pistol. I liked the fact that Hennig works very hard to keep Ricky, Maybelline's deceased son, a viable character in the story but it just comes off a little forced.
Thom Fitzgerald's direction respects the story, though it is a bit on the lethargic side. He does get some surprisingly strong performances from his cast, especially Weaver, who absolutely lights up the screen and makes a lot of the story contrivances a little easier to take. Adrian Grenier was also surprisingly effective as Ricky's widower and Liu was a real eye opener as the Grace to Ricky's Will. Jacki Weaver is wonderful but the story is just too safe. I wish it had taken more chances.
A terrific performance by Jacki Weaver makes a 2020 comedy-drama called Stage Mother worth a look, despite a contrived and predictable screenplay that is set on a somewhat bold canvas but offers no surprises along the way.
The two time Oscar nominee plays Maybelline Metcalf, a conservative Texas housewife and church choir director who travels to San Francisco to attend her gay son's funeral, who died from a drug overdose, despite the fact that she and her husband Jeb disowned their son years ago. Upon arrival in the Bay City, she befriends her son's best friend, a slightly trashy single mom (Lucy Liu) and her son's lover and business partner (Adrian Grenier), who hates the woman on sight. One of the reasons he hates her is because Maybelline learns that her son left her his business, a drag bar called Pandora's Box. After visiting the place, instead of selling it, she decides to take over the business and refurbish it from the ground up.
Screenwriter Brad Hennig has sort of a novel idea here, unfortunately, the story is so predictable the viewer can practically recite the dialogue along with the actors. It's hard to buy the way Hennig turns Maybelline into this superwoman who is immediately accepting of who her son was and not only tries to keep his legacy alive, but tries to solve the problems of all the people in her son's life as well. Since her son overdosed, we learn that one of the drag queens has a drug problem as well and one visit from Maybelline, and poof, he doesn't want to get high anymore. We learn that the single mom is in an abusive relationship and, poof, Maybelline disposes of him with a pistol. I liked the fact that Hennig works very hard to keep Ricky, Maybelline's deceased son, a viable character in the story but it just comes off a little forced.
Thom Fitzgerald's direction respects the story, though it is a bit on the lethargic side. He does get some surprisingly strong performances from his cast, especially Weaver, who absolutely lights up the screen and makes a lot of the story contrivances a little easier to take. Adrian Grenier was also surprisingly effective as Ricky's widower and Liu was a real eye opener as the Grace to Ricky's Will. Jacki Weaver is wonderful but the story is just too safe. I wish it had taken more chances.