THE GOOD MOTHER (2023) – Review

Well, here’s a more somber crime thriller to quiet things down in the multiplexes as the Summer movie season of noisy blockbusters wraps up with the Labor Day weekend. Its setting is only a few years back, but most of its themes are fairly timeless as we bear witness to another young person (actually several) from the mean streets of the East Coast who is swallowed up by the drug trade. Oh, but there’s one sole (really aided by a couple more) who won’t allow him to be another statistic, another outline on the filthy sidewalk. Now she’s not your typical crusading heroine, as she’s dealing with her own flaws and weaknesses. Still, this struggling newspaper reporter earns the right to be called THE GOOD MOTHER.

It opens on the dark early morning streets of Albany, NY in 2016 as a man in his twenties dashes from corner to corner, Soon we realize that he’s not an enthusiastic jogger, rather he’s running for his life just as headlights engulf him. Cut to the dingy bedroom of the home of his mother (hence the title) Marissa (Hilary Swank) as she pushes away several empty bottles (fallen soldiers) to stop her cell phone alarm. A quick cuppa’ Joe and she’s on her way to the newspaper office. She barely makes the staff meeting where her worried editor keeps droning on about making the paper’s website go “viral”. Marissa is bolted awake when her police officer son Toby (Jack Reynor) knocks on the conference room door to pull her out for some bad, bad news. Flash forward to the gravesite of her other son Michael. As Marrisa leaves, she spots a very pregnant young woman hovering over the plot. She’s Paige (Olivia Cooke), Michael’s girlfriend. Marissa greets her with a slap, accusing her of forcing her son back into drug running (his stealing to support his habit strained the mother-son relationship). Toby has a few leads, including the now missing childhood pal of Michael’s, ‘Ducky’. Later that night Paige is awakened by home invaders. She hides Michael’s old suitcase (with some of his “product”) and seeks shelter from …Marissa. Despite the ugly scene at the cemetery, the duo decide to join forces and find out who killed Michael and why. The answers could be much more than either anticipated.

Aside from the main plot of the film, another real mystery (and a bit of a tragedy) is the lack of meaty big-screen roles for one of the most honored actresses in cinema (two Oscars). Luckily episodic TV has stepped up (though it’s a broadcast network series) until the complex, troubled Marissa is given vibrant life by Ms. Swank. Yes, she’s similar to the hard-drinkin’ and livin’ newshounds of noir flicks, but we see that it has taken a toll on her relationships and splintered her family. Swank has the dazed, burned-out body language down, then shows us how this new mission actually invigorates her, giving her a purpose. That’s best shown in her scenes with the talented Cooke as the scared but dogged Paige, who won’t be brushed aside as the “knocked-up” junkie’s squeeze. At times, she supplies the passion for truth when Marissa begins to despair. Reynor, as Toby, brings real depth to the “good son” role as we see him begin to fear for his mom’s deep dive into the dangerous part of the battered city. Though he’s always supplying intel, Reynor shows us a beat cop torn by duty and family. Also of note are Dilone as Toby’s steadfast supportive spouse Gina and Hopper Penn as the haunted, trapped Ducky.

Director Miles Joris-Peyrafitte keeps the plot moving at a steady pace while giving the setting a look of muddy remorse gleaned from the screenplay he co-wrote from Madison Harrison. Unfortunately, it doesn’t offer much of anything new covering ground recently tread by premium cable miniseries like the “Mare of Easttown” or “American Rust”. Nods to the opioid crisis and references to the dying newspaper industry feel like tacked-on bits of business to give it a “current event” feel. The main glitch may be in the last act in which big reveals are telegraphed and the final denouncement is muddled. leaving us to wonder just how Marissa may act and what the consequences will be. Luckily, Swank is compelling as the scribe, and Cooke makes for a spirited scene partner for her. It’s great to see Swank at the top of her acting game, but she can’t quite overcome the cliched feel of the script at the heart of THE GOOD MOTHER.

2 out of 4

THE GOOD MOTHER opens in select theatres on Friday, September 1, 2023