Three stars. Rated PG-13, and rather pointlessly, for fleeting profanity and mildly suggestive content
By Derrick Bang
Veteran director Garry Marshall
began what could be termed his “holiday merry-go-round” series with 2010’s Valentine’s Day, which blended an
impressively diverse ensemble cast with a reasonably clever series of
interlocking stories from scripters Katherine Fugate, Abby Kohn and Marc
Silverstein.
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| When Sandy (Jennifer Aniston, left) brings her sons (Caleb Brown and Brandon Spink) for their regularly scheduled weekend with their father Henry (Timothy Olyphant), she's dismayed by his new young wife Tina's (Shay Mitchell) barely there clothing, and by the lengths she has gone to curry favor with the boys. |
It was popular enough to generate
a sequel, 2011’s New Year’s Eve,
which included a few casting carryovers and a script credited solely to Fugate.
Alas, the result wasn’t nearly as satisfying; the intertwining stories weren’t
as clever, their outcomes far more predictable.
Despite this, Marshall has gone
to the well a third time, with further diminishing returns. Perhaps hoping that
new blood would invigorate the premise, Marshall turned this time to scripters
Tom Hines, Lily Hollander, Anya Kochoff and Matthew Walker. Frankly, it feels
like they worked independently, rather than collaboratively; the episodic
narratives link up clumsily, if at all, and Mother’s
Day too frequently feels like an average episode of TV’s Love Boat or Fantasy Island.
Which isn’t necessarily bad, I
suppose, although that sets the bar rather low.
Yes, some of the arch one-liners
will elicit giggles, and it’s still fun to see so many familiar faces in a
single project. But the slapstick elements are TV-sitcom stupid, and the core
storyline involving racist, insensitive parents churns out a candy-coated happy
resolution with ludicrous swiftness (hence the Fantasy Island reference).
So, get your scorecards out...
Sandy (Jennifer Aniston) and
Henry (Timothy Olyphant), amicably divorced, have been sharing custody of two
young sons (Caleb Brown and Brandon Spink). But the situation’s harmony is
shattered when Henry announces his surprise marriage to a much younger hotsy-totsy
named Tina (Shay Mitchell). Cutting remarks about cradle-robbing aside, Sandy
fears that she’ll be downgraded to “other mother” status: of particular
concern, with the impending arrival of Mother’s Day.
At the same time, Sandy hopes to
enhance her career as a clothing and set designer by landing an interview with
TV shopping network diva Miranda Collins (Julia Roberts), represented by
longtime agent and friend Lance Wallace (Marshall perennial Hector Elizondo).
