NETFLIX’S “THE MOTHER” IS GOOD BUT COULD BE MUCH BETTER

When I first saw trailers for “The Mother” on Netflix I thought that it was a vehicle for Jennifer Lopez to dip into the action genre. She has been in thrillers and action movies, but this was her portraying the action hero that usually is reserved for men like Arnold and Sly. Shots of her using a sniper rifle, running, and fighting as the hero most women don’t get to play. We can see that she is protecting her daughter that she had to give up years ago to protect them both, but now they are thrust together as her past catches up to both of them. Sure, somewhat formulaic but it always seems to get the job done. There’s one thing the trailer doesn’t tell you about this movie: she’s no hero and the action you see isn’t as good as you think.

Lopez plays The Mother – that’s her name in the film as a dark brooding quiet killer. She was in the army and that’s how she got her training and expertise as a sniper and natural killer. The army was the only way out of her life that previously had no future. That’s about all we know about her. She uses her military knowledge to join a couple of arms dealers. She goes to the FBI to cut a deal after her years of running with the bad guys turns sour and she has to give up her child, Zoe played by Lucy Paez in order to protect them both. Paez plays her daughter very well as a well raised and well-rounded kid who was given extraordinary adoptive parents. Her adoptive mother is Sonya (Yvonne Senat Jones) who we can tell is a loving mother in her own right, but we only get glimpses of that in scenes where we see her and Lucy interact from a distance. Her adoptive father doesn’t even get a name in the film. The Mother tries to protect Zoe from her two former business partners. One of the men is believed to be the father of Zoe. Adrian, played by Joseph Fiennes and Hector, played by Gael Garcia Bernal both are well placed in their parts as different sides of the same coin. Whichever side flips up it isn’t any good. The story sees Lopez running form both of them and their henchmen in several different chase scenes on vehicles and on foot. Her only friend is FBI agent William Cruise (Omari Hardwick) who has been keeping tabs on Zoe over the years. Zoe knows who he is, but they don’t really tell you why she does. That is kind of the problem with this movie. What is anyone’s motivation at times? It’s like an evil version of My Two Dads mixed with The Fosters without any positive influences.

The Mother is obviously motivated by love for her daughter and the Adrian and Hector are motivated by her leaving them and destroying what they had. That’s the one refreshing twist in this movie is that Lopez is NOT a good person. The immediate thought of her storyline is she was a government operative sent in to infiltrate the bad guys and be the FBI’s informant. However, that’s not it at all what she is. She IS a bad guy too. She’s with them of her own free will and is just as big into their weapons smuggling and other nefarious deeds. She is no hero. She just decides one day that things have become too much, and she has to get her and her unborn daughter out of there so she turns herself in to cut a deal. Of course, nothing goes right and as things decay into chase scenes and fights, we never really get the connections we hope for. Lopez is a good actress and her steely stare in this film is worth the watch, but that’s all we get. When Zoe is kidnapped by Hector The Mother springs into action chasing down and killing all the bad guys to save her daughter. The problem we have is that’s it. There are times where we could really see the relationship between them expand and discuss why she gave up Zoe all those years ago. We could see more from Sonya and her love for Zoe and the struggle between the two moms, but we don’t get that. At one point Mother and Zoe have to literally drive across Canada to Alaska and we get to see …. none of that. That’s days in a truck with awkward silences and emotional outbursts that we never see as it’s glossed over in the snap of the fingers. Even some of the action sequences could be better with a dramatic motorcycle rescue that looks about as well staged as a 1920’s western. Can you watch this movie and enjoy it? Sure, it’s not overly terrible. The thing is that you will wish they gave you more of the story of the relationship and feel somewhat insulted that they just kind of skipped things. I’m all about “it’s a movie so sit there and enjoy it for what it is” but there comes a point of wanting more than they are giving you. “The Mother” gives you the tough love and vengeance you want, but little else to make you think that this terrible person is now the good guy that should be raising any child. Put it on your watchlist, but don’t worry if you don’t pay close attention to it while you have it on because you won’t miss much.