Mother’s Day

By: John Delia, Jr.

Mother’s Day is a heartwarming story that features four different family situations and how they cope with them. The acting, direction and cinematography all come together nicely for a sweet entertainment experience culminating on the maternal day.

Sandy (Jennifer Aniston) has been divorced from Henry (Timothy Olyphant) for several years now and they have two children that keep them connected. They still have a close friendship together and never keep secrets from each other. Henry does surprise Sandy though by informing her he just got remarried to an old girlfriend named Tina (Shay Mitchell). To say the least, things start to become a little overwhelming for Sandy.

Jesse (Kate Hudson) is married to Russell (Aasif Mandvi) who’s from India and they have one child together. Her sister, Gabi (Sarah Chalke), lives next door and is in a lesbian marriage with Max (Cameron Esposito). Her partner has one son and they have been keeping this a secret from Gabi’s parents, Earl (Robert Pine) and Flo (Margo Martindale), for some time now. Living so far away from them, it hasn’t been too hard for Jesse and Gabi to keep secret from them.

Bradley (Jason Sudeikis) lost his wife recently and has two daughters. It has been over a year and he is still struggling with the loss, taking care of the girls and not being able to move on. His sixteen year old daughter, Rachel (Jessi Case), has begun to start dating without her father’s consent and this is adding more heartbreak to the motherless family.

Kristin (Britt Robertson) and Zack (Jack Whitehall) recently had a baby, but they are not married. Kristin is afraid to get married because she is struggling with abandonment issues since being told she was adopted and never knew her mother. We come to find out that her birth mother is Miranda (Julia Roberts), a host of the HSN Shopping network. She has never been married and spends most of her time improving her career.

All these stories bring about many different emotions and circumstances that eventually come to exciting conclusions. Along the way you will have many laughs and you should enjoy all the very interesting and true to life topics right up to the film’s fascinating endings.

Director Garry Marshall crafts another encouraging and touching storyline that is sure to appeal to the ladies. I like the way he handles each segment and how they all, eventually, come together. Each story had its own personality that ends up all tied together with Mother’s Day. If you like his previous films like Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Eve and The Princess Diaries you’ll love Mother’s Day.

Final Grade: I give this an A for its heartwarming storyline and enjoyable performances.