I was extremely disappointed in the latest offering from the wonderful writer and director James Brooks. It is difficult to believe or like ANY of the adult characters. First, poor Tea Leoni is the most hideous, narcissistic mother seen on film since the 1930's. Her husband is a wuss of monumental proportions and this couple, supposedly together since high school, communicate in nothing but Westside L.A. feel good code: They need their "space;" they "validate" feelings. It's as if they've spent their entire marriage in aroma therapy and self-esteem building classes.
The gorgeous, thin Mexican maid -- and trust me, none of them look like her in Beverly Hills -- wears two hundred dollar blouses she could never afford and presents us with a portrait of almost saint like devotion to her only child. Then in the end, she refuses to allow the child to continue her education on scholarship at a private school. We are supposed to believe that this daughter went on to a public school I guess, on the other side of L.A. and ended up applying to Princeton? Puh-leese! Did anyone involved with this production visit a public school in L.A. recently? I attended one 30 years ago and my mother still teaches in the school system, which is now about 90% Hispanic and/or African American. The schools today are disaster areas with metal detectors, under-performing warehouses for the children of the poor that do not prepare their students for state college, much less the Ivy League.
There were some great one liners and the two young girls who played the daughters are both excellent actresses, but all in all, this was a real mess -- and a miss by Brooks. It can't hold a candle to "Terms of Endearment" or even an old episode of Mary Tyler Moore.
The gorgeous, thin Mexican maid -- and trust me, none of them look like her in Beverly Hills -- wears two hundred dollar blouses she could never afford and presents us with a portrait of almost saint like devotion to her only child. Then in the end, she refuses to allow the child to continue her education on scholarship at a private school. We are supposed to believe that this daughter went on to a public school I guess, on the other side of L.A. and ended up applying to Princeton? Puh-leese! Did anyone involved with this production visit a public school in L.A. recently? I attended one 30 years ago and my mother still teaches in the school system, which is now about 90% Hispanic and/or African American. The schools today are disaster areas with metal detectors, under-performing warehouses for the children of the poor that do not prepare their students for state college, much less the Ivy League.
There were some great one liners and the two young girls who played the daughters are both excellent actresses, but all in all, this was a real mess -- and a miss by Brooks. It can't hold a candle to "Terms of Endearment" or even an old episode of Mary Tyler Moore.