Directed By: Tim Hamilton
Written By: Hank Nelken
Released: 2007
Grade: B
Mama’s Boy is a lot like Mr. Woodcock, except majority of the characters are a bit more realistic and there are actually funny moments in the film. It has the same basic set up though: boys father dies, becomes close and sheltered by his mother, and after years the mother ends up dating someone who the son doesn’t approve of. Boy then tries to sabotage the relationship and get them to grow up, than regrets it when he realizes that the mother was happier when they were dating, and the two have some sort of an understanding between each other . Luckily, Mama’s Boy is able to do a bit more with this story line.
Jeffrey’s (Heder) father was killed when he was young in a car accident. This had two side effects: he refused to drive in fear that the same would happen to him, and in fear of losing his mother (Keaton) as well, he clung to her. As the last person, she had in her life, she took advantage of this, sheltering him for far longer than she should have. This brings us to where the story really starts, Jeffrey still living with his mother at 29 years old. Soon his mother becomes more occupied with her new boyfriend, Mert (Daniels) than him though. They met at one his inspirational public speeches, as he talks about his triumph over cancer. Jeffrey is instantly appalled that his mother is even dating and when he meets Mert he makes it his mission to break them up. At first, Mert tries to impress Jeffrey but he soon realizes that this is pointless, and a cat and mouse game of tricks and pay back break out between them.
Mert and Jeffrey’s mom seem to be moving fast, making Mert the new the priority. After a few weeks he moves in and Jeffrey is forced to move to the basement, and soon enough they announce that they are selling the house and they are not allowing Jeffrey to stay in their new house for good, only on a temporary basis at most. Jeffrey attempts to find some proof that Mert is a bad person. To do this he gets help from Nora (Farris), a rebellious singer, who he meets at the coffee shop she works at. They begin spending a lot of time together, but Jeffrey might be ruining his relationship quicker than his mothers since he seems to more concerned with theirs.
Jon Heder was better here than one of his most recent films, Moving McAllister. Obviously, his character was meant to be nerdy and a bit ridiculous, to make an example of how desperately he needed to grow up. Heder is a so-so actor for me, sometimes he is flat out annoying and other times I can actually appreciate him. Blades of Glory and Monster House, are still a little bit superior to his performance here, but he held it together well enough to give us a certain amount of likeability within his character. Anna Farris by far was the standout actor and no doubt, made the movie much more appealing than it would have been without her. She played the edgy Nora with great conviction displaying a very anti-corporate America stance. She really seemed like the most realistic one and brought sensibility to the film. Her performance here after Smiley Face, really shows that those last lingering Scary Movie films is all that was holding Farris back. She has a great presence and she displays it wonderfully. Diane Keaton alongside Jeff Daniels does pretty well here. Daniels maintains an authentic and good hearted nature, even regardless of some of his tricks with Jeffrey and things he is not so proud of in his past. This was really important, because making him essentially a good guy makes Jeffrey seem a lot more paranoid. It was a pleasant surprise seeing Sarah Chalke as Mert’s daughter in the film. Her role was more of a cameo, but the time she was on screen was very enjoyable. With Scrubs being over, I really hope to see her have some larger parts in films now. Even if she wants to focus on TV more, I would be thrilled to see her become a regular on How I Met Your Mother.
My main complaint about Mama’s Boy is that the relationship between Jeffrey’s mother and Mert seemed to escalate a lot faster than it should have. With in a few weeks they were living together and shortly after that they were engaged. Even dating for 6 months, would be considered rushing in to a marriage, but they were probably only dating between 1-2 months at the most. Especially after them both recovering from losing their spouses, you would think that they would take things slow, especially with this being their first relationship in years. It isn’t too hard to look past this though, especially since it helps the story along as more of a reason for Jeffrey to try to find some dirt on Mert, otherwise he will take his place.
In a lot of the descriptions of Mama’s Boy, Jeffrey is being described as lazy and a slacker. This is far from the truth and if this were the case, there really would be no sympathy for him. He works at a local book store and has aspirations of becoming an astronomer. The reason why he hasn’t grown up yet is not because of the work he would have to do, but because of fear. His father’s death, made him fear something as common as driving. Losing one parent, made him put all of that sorrow and despair in to love and appreciation for his mother. The only problem is that Jeffrey takes this a bit too far. He attempted to make something of his life and was at college. Being so sheltered before though, he couldn’t accept different people, and feared the type of things they might do. He stays at home so close to his mother, because he is scared of what the real world might do to him. Mama’s Boy is far from perfect, but it definitely has it’s funny moments and thanks to a few very good performances and a realistic situation, we are able to witness a man’s maturing and realization that facing your fears is the only way to deal with them.
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YOu get to see all the fun films. Good review. I like Anna Faris, she is growing on me.