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Mother, Couchis the type of movie with a jaw-dropping cast that you keep hoping and praying gets better but never turns that corner. And that’s saying something for a film that mercifully ends around the 90-minute mark. The film has worthy performances, particularly from its star, Ewan McGregor, who does what he can to elevate the material.
However,Mother, Couchis more interested in its existential mood than in what will draw the audience in. The story is not engaging or interesting, and, for that matter, entertaining is the story. That’s the one thing about some first-time directors—they forget their audience.
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Mother, CouchReview and Synopsis
Mother, Couch’sstory is set in a remote furniture store, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, run by Marcus (Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham) and his loyal young associate, Bella (Bones & All’sTaylor Russell). Bella finds an older adult woman, Mother (Ellen Burstyn), planting herself on one of the outlet’s green couches and refusing to leave.
Naturally, the family is notified, and they all converge at the store, wondering why their mother won’t get up. This includes the oldest, Gruffudd (House of the Dragon’sRhys Ifans), the youngest sibling, David (Ewan McGregor), his wife (Lake Bell), and his children. The older sister, Linda (Lara Flynn Boyle), also arrives, and they all ask their mother the same thing: Why won’t you leave?
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Ewan McGregor stars inMother, Couchand It’s an Unmitigated Disaster
Mother, Couchis based on Jerker Virdborg’s 2020 Swedish novelMamma i soffa. Directed by Niclas Larsson, who also wrote the film adaptation. This is the filmmaker’s first feature film. It’s an ambitious project in surrealist filmmaking. However, if you think you’re working into such dark comedies asI’m Thinking of Ending Things, Beau Is Afraid,orDream Scenario, you are mistaken.
The fact is Mother, Couch is muddled, and before you point out that’s the nature of the genre, you would be wrong. The best surreality films strive to maintain a clear, thematic vision. However, Larrsson’s film lacks thematic consistency and the emotional resonance it strives for. In fact, the latter is almost achieved with EwanMcGregor’sacute manic turn but falls short.
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IsMother, CouchWorth Watching?
Despite her willpower to keep the film around an hour and a half,Mother, Couchis agonizingly sluggish. Any conflict and tension between characters, particularly the siblings, is manufactured and forced. They lack depth, particularly Burstyn’s titular character andIfans’sGruffudd. Additionally, there is the added flaw of being unable to offer a character the audience can relate to.
The movie is not worth watching for those reasons, but the first and foremost strike against Larsson’s film is that it’s just not entertaining. The final product’s existential crisis tone and saccharine ending are incongruous. The film is a journey with a destination that not only confuses the audience about how they got there but also makes a grave mistake.
Being so self-serving, the result causes the viewer to have an apathetic reaction to how they arrived.
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You can watch Ewan McGregor in Mother, Couch only in theaters this holiday weekend starting on July 5th.
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M.N. Miller
Film & Television Critic
Articles Published :336
M.N. Miller is a film and television critic and a proud member of the Las Vegas Film Critic Society, Critics Choice Association, and a 🍅 Rotten Tomatoes/Tomato meter approved. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Mansfield University and a Master’s from Chamberlain University. However, he still puts on his pants one leg at a time, and that’s when he usually stumbles over. When not writing about film or television, he patiently waits for the next Pearl Jam album and chooses to pass the time by scratching his wife’s back on Sunday afternoons while she watches endless reruns of California Dreams. M.N. Miller was proclaimed the smartest reviewer alive by actor Jason Isaacs but chose to ignore his obvious sarcasm. You can also find his work on Hidden Remote, InSession Film, Ready Steady Cut, Geek Vibes Nation, and Nerd Alert.
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Ellen BurstynEwan McGregorRhys IfansTaylor Russell
