Motherhood

Wake up, make breakfast, get the kids ready for school, see husband off to work, clean the house, walk the dog, buy groceries, pick the kids up from school, and the list goes on and on. A day in the life of a stay-at-home mom is never dull or without its surprises. Eliza Welsh (Uma Thurman), a loving and devoted wife and mother of two kids, who is raising her family in a small apartment in middle-class Manhattan, is no stranger to all of these tasks.

As the film opens, we get a peek into a day of this housewife’s very hectic life. On this particular day, Eliza must juggle all of her motherly duties and plan a fabulous sixth birthday party by that evening for her daughter, Clara (Daisy Tahan). Eliza’s day becomes even more complicated, when she finds out about a writing contest for an online magazine, called Lunchbox, a publication targeted at moms. Contestants must explain in 500 words what motherhood means to them, and the winner will become a regular columnist for the magazine. There is just one problem though; all of the contestants’ essays must be turned in before midnight the same day. Eliza is very excited about the prospect of this writing position, as she wishes to incorporate her passion for writing into her life as a loving mother and wife.

Positive Elements

There are themes that can be seen throughout “Motherhood,” which align themselves with Christian values. For example, Eliza and her husband (Anthony Edwards) are a happily married couple, who are working together to raise their 6-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son. Eliza is a loving, stay-at-home mom, who is devoted to her children’s well-being and always puts their needs above her own. She wants to make Clara’s birthday special for her. She is also very sentimental about Clara turning six, and, like any good mom, thinks that her daughter is growing up too fast.

“Motherhood,” also, captures the reality of raising children and being married, but this film brings the trials and tribulations of motherhood to life in a very humorous fashion that is fun to watch. Viewers will be entertained by the misfortunes that befall the disheveled Eliza during her day. She must deal with her daughter’s name being misspelled on her birthday cake, as well as pushy and rude customers at the party store, among many other things, as she madly rushes around the city trying to get everything accomplished.

This film also brings attention to some of the hardships and insecurities that mother’s may face, and demonstrates the importance of addressing these issues. After Eliza has a breakdown, she talks to her husband, Avery, about how she often feels isolated from the adult world, because she does not go to work with other adults everyday, like he does. She also tells Avery that she sometimes gets frustrated with the endless cleaning and seemingly menial errands that she runs everyday, because she feels that they are not important. Avery reassures her that what she does is important, valuable, and very much appreciated, even if he does not always show it. Eliza also talks to him about how she is afraid that he does not find her attractive or interesting to talk to anymore. Avery assures Eliza that he does.

Eliza’s love for motherhood and commitment to her family are reflected in one of the drafts of her essay, where she explains that being a mom is about cherishing all of those precious little moments, in your children’s lives, like playing tooth fairy, and wanting to hold onto to those moments.

Avery is a loving husband, who appreciates the importance of his wife’s job as a stay-at-home mom, and understands that it is important for her to pursue her interest in writing for the family magazine, Lunchbox, during her free time. In many ways, this film reveres the important role of mother, and asks its audience to respect it.

Objectionable Content

It is important for viewers to understand that “Motherhood” contains mature content and is NOT a family film. Its target audience is adults, and the morality rating of “Average,” which I assigned to this film, was made with the assumption that this is not a children’s movie.

Many profanities litter this movie’s dialogue. There are 8-9 uses of the s-word and 1-2 uses of the f-word. There are several uses of the Lord’s name in vain and 2 uses of G** d**n. Other profanities include 2 uses of p***, 1 use of a**, and 2 uses of the word, d**k head. In one scene, an angry driver yells the c-word at Eliza, but this profanity is masked by traffic noise, but it is fairly obvious what the angry driver yelled at her. Eliza gets very angry with this man and reprimands him for using that word in front of her 2-year-old son. Finally, at least one rude word is used to refer to the male anatomy.

There is some awkward and inappropriate sexual talk in “Motherhood.” In one scene, Eliza’s friend, Sheila (Minnie Driver), a pregnant divorced woman, tells Eliza that all she wants to do is “shag,” and she also tells her that she used her son’s bath toy as a sexual toy.

In another scene, a young, attractive delivery boy delivers a letter to Eliza’s apartment, and he helps her carry her shopping bags upstairs. He is clearly attracted to Eliza and tells her she is very pretty. As he helps her decorate her apartment for the birthday party, he shows an interest in Eliza’s writing and asks her several questions about it. Later, they dance and jump around to upbeat music in her apartment. (This dancing is not overtly sexual and is really more playful in nature.) After this incident, Eliza tells her husband about the delivery boy and apologizes to him about what happened.

Eliza is also seen smoking in several scenes, when she is stressed out, but she expresses a desire to continue to work on quitting for her children.

Summary and Recommendations

“Motherhood” is a well-acted and entertaining comedy that reveres the important job of stay-at-home moms that many viewers will be able to relate to, but due to this film’s heavy profanity and inappropriate sexual dialogue, I can only cautiously recommend this comedy about the hardships and joys of motherhood to mature adult audiences.

Violence: Minor / Profanity: Heavy / Sex/Nudity: Moderate

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