Jennifer Lopez

Lucy Paez

Omari Hardwick

Joseph Fiennes

Gael García Bernal

Paul Raci

Jesse Garcia

Yvonne Senat Jones

Edie Falco

Michael Karl Richards

Link Baker

Mayumi Yoshida

Ryan Cowie

Todd Matthews

Yadier Fernández

Olivia Lucas

Mehdi Regragui

Jay Cardinal Villeneuve

Daniel Whittaker

Richard Miro

Juan Jose Rodriguez Gil

Karl McMillan

Noah Crawford

Fahim Fazli

Saif Mohsen

Gabriel Bonilla

Yorkie Joaquin

Leslie Lluvet

Carlos Robles

Isaac Gonzalez Rossi

Damon Zolfaghari

Niki Caro

Molly Allen

Miri Yoon

Peter Craig

Misha Green

Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas

Benny Medina

Roy Lee

Marc D. Evans

Jolene Van Vugt

Germaine Franco

Chris Duesterdiek

Daniel Saxlid

Kath Raisch

Alayn Crespo

Jesse Pomeroy

Ben Seresin

Jean-François Campeau

Ann Scibelli

David Coulson

John Andrew Berton Jr.

Nancy Nayor

Jeriana San Juan

Bina Daigeler

Anna Behlmer

Andrew Li

Jezabel De Leon

Lorenzo Martin

Cody Usak

Ester Bovard

Nancy MacLeod

Juan Ramón Molina

Toby Lindala

Kate Best

Debra Wiebe

Shannon Gottlieb

Liz Tan

Tevin Maker

John Cherniack

Fraser Aitcheson

David Jobe

Michael W. Mitchell

Tim Christensen

Curtis Corona

Elaine Essex Thompson

María Fernanda Muñoz

Sandra Nieuwenhuijsen

Liz Bernstrom

Jonathan M. Anderson

Michael Sarkis

Álex Cuadrado

Emanuela Daus

Rachel Terry

Laura Musso

Willard Overstreet

Paul Benjamin

Jason Bell

Kory Grim

Richard Marmion

Sabrina Demers

Tommy Europe

Darcy Hinds

Merc Arceneaux

Pearl Louie

Marjorie Wood

Chad Belair

Daniel Pagan

Teresa Tso

Andrey García Mijailov

Randy Hutniak

Bob Lacivita

G. Allen Stewart

Leif Havdale

Felicity Nove

Will Riley

Colton Friesen

Dan Kaufman

Naomi Frenette

Cat Mudryk

Haley Lauten

Andrew Berry

Lilia Afsahi

Jeff Habberstad

Crystal Munson

Shannon Courte

Román Labrador

Jim Ramsay

Dani Medina

Eva Salas

Mike Santana

Simon Deighton

Marcus Aurelio

Dacio Caballero

George Zador

Chris Yestin Lee

Joel Márquez

Ángel Sarrión

Nicole Saucerman

Stuart Haggerty

Action

Thriller

The Mother

Vertigo Entertainment

Nuyorican Productions

United States of America

English

Español

female assassin

woman director

mother and daughter

Manuel São Bento

MORE SPOILER-FREE MINI-REVIEWS @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/mini-reviews-2023-edition

"The Mother is an instantly forgettable Netflix film about a spy mother who must protect her estranged daughter because "bad people from the past". Jennifer Lopez is good, Lucy Paez is GREAT, but none save it from its bland, generic story. Expected more from Niki Caro."

Rating: D+

Ironically, these tale about a mother and daughter, fails because the male characters have no depth. The villain is evil sure, but also extremely stupid and escaping from her first attempt to kill him in a very unbelievable and unexplained way.

The romantic tension between Cruise and the mother also doesn't work and the age old friendship with Jons is also not given any backstory. I'm enclined to blame the casting here. Well, the story was lacking and oddly edited as well, but it may be because there wasn't much to work with. Either way, it's clear this is supposed to be about a mother/daughter relationship, but also be an action move and the director / writers / actors couldn't make it work. 3/10, 2 points cause I've seen worse, not because I can find something positive in it.

The Movie Mob

**The Mother is an average straight-to-stream action thriller that does a decent job but won’t last too long in your memory or heart.**

The Mother is a generic assassin turned parent protecting/avenging their child from a mob of drug runners/arms dealers. While in the vein of films like Taken or Peppermint, The Mother makes a critical error the other films didn’t - a 2-hour runtime. Its bigger budget made this movie feel slightly more polished, but stretching its meager story 30 minutes longer than many in this subgenre took its toll. The pacing dragged along between the action sequences, sometimes leaving the movie feeling too long and tedious. The production quality of the action set pieces was decent, but the action itself was fairly basic. Jennifer Lopez is fun as the intense and withdrawn mother assassin and undoubtedly is the best part of the movie. The Mother is nowhere near an awful film, and reviews that say otherwise probably set their expectations too high. It's a run-of-the-mill action streamer that gets the job done, blows some stuff up, shoots some bad guys, and despite being forgettable, didn’t feel like a total waste of time.

In spite of the rather, by now, predictable and formulaic story, woke-ness and a dash of US exceptionalism (for those paying attention) The Mother does have something to offer the viewer. 

The first thing, is surprisingly engaging acting, from Jennifer Lopez. I'd always associated her with music, although I was aware of her forays into acting, over the years. Lopez hands in an above average performance as a assassin, with mothering instincts. 

Lopez's chemistry with Lucy Paez, who plays her her daughter, really binds this film together and elevates it, beyond its otherwise pedestrian credentials. 

Action wise, there's a lot on offer too but its also rather forgettable. 

Ultimately, its the performances of the lead cast, that make this film, a modest success.

The Mother( 2023)

Vengeance is a mother!

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A review by Manuel São Bento

Written by Manuel São Bento on Mon May 08 2023

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