i like movies with albert brooks , and i really like movies directed and written by albert brooks .
lost in america and defending your life are two of my favorite comedies .
his humor is of a kind that is not very prevalent in movies today , inundated as we are with films which revel in their aim toward the lowest common denominator .
you will rarely see any slapstick in an albert brooks film , while the dialog will not be as oppressive as in some of the independent ” talk films ” which are finding their way into theaters .
the situations in which his characters find themselves are ones we can often identify with , but even if we can’t , brooks has the talent to make them comfortable , and therefore we laugh .
teenagers and jim carrey fans probably won’t find an albert brooks movie very funny , but people who look for more than what we could find on television probably will .
put simply , brooks’ comedy is intelligent .
mother is albert brooks’ latest film , and it does not disappoint .
brooks plays john henderson , a middle-aged science fiction writer just coming off his second divorce .
he makes an attempt at dating , but fails miserably .
he then has dinner with his brother jeff ( rob morrow ) , a successful sports agent who seems to live the ideal life .
jeff has a good job , a loving family , and most of all , a warm relationship with their mother beatrice ( debbie reynolds ) .
after dinner , john witnesses a telephone conversation between jeff and beatrice , and is at the same time amazed and sickened by how hunky-dory the dialog is .
in comparison , beatrice always hints at a fault in john and his career every time she talks with him , and john gives it right back to her .
at the end of one of their conversations where beatrice has just picked apart john’s life , she says , ” i love you , ” and john replies with , ” i know you think you do . ”
the thing is , beatrice is not overt with her criticisms , but instead gives them in that mothering way which is tantamount to nit-picking and guilt loading .
it’s the kind that goes something like , ” yes , dear , i think you do that wonderfully , but . . . . ”
it seems as though nothing he does makes her happy .
there’s always the big but .
john believes that his mother is somehow connected to his failed relationships with women , either because of his flawed self-esteem caused by his need for validation , or perhaps because he tends to unconsciously seek out women who remind him of his mother in an oedipal manner .
he comes to the conclusion that since his problems are rooted in his boyhood home , he should move back in with his mother for a while just to see what kinds of feelings come out , and by that be able to sort out why his life is the way it is .
” a great experiment ” , he calls it .
brooks’ own brand of humor really shines in this film , especially in the interaction john has with his mother .
there’s a scene where john has just arrived at his mother’s house , and after having driven from los angeles to sausalito , and having explained to his mother about the ” great experiment ” , beatrice asks , ” now explain to me again why you don’t want to stay at a hotel . ”
she still doesn’t get it , and it is absolutely hilarious .
in the same scene , we get little glances at the life his mother leads when she tries to feed him food that is no longer fresh .
she apparently buys in great quantities and refrigerates it until the lettuce is wilted and the sherbet is iced over .
when john points out the ice on the sherbet , beatrice tells him not to worry about the protective glaze .
” you’ve named the ice ? ”
asks john .
he’s also surprised at the variety of items beatrice keeps in the refrigerator , such as a twenty-pound block of cheese .
” the freezer was a good invention , ” says john , ” but it’s not supposed to be used for everything .
that’s why it’s smaller than the refrigerator . ”
it’s something most of us find strangely familiar .
brooks is also a master at employing the non sequitur .
for example , in defending your life , his and meryl streep’s characters are in a comedy club having a discussion .
when they’re finished and walk out , brooks cuts to the comic on stage who is just at the point of delivering his punch line , ” and so the moral is , if you have to fart , go outside ! ”
you don’t know what the joke was because you couldn’t hear him during the entire scene , but i must have laughed for the next five minutes , it seemed so out of context .
in this film , brooks uses the same trick a couple of times to open or close a scene .
i don’t want to give them away , but suffice it to say they work just as well as they have in the past .
john’s purpose for staying with his mother is to learn , and we as the audience learn right along with him .
his mother is not the fascinating type to begin with , but as john spends more time with her , we learn things about her personality and her lifestyle that give her depth .
watching the character of beatrice unfold is every bit as enjoyable as the humor that accompanies it each step of the way .
on screen , brooks does an excellent job playing this kind of character : you get the feeling he often believes he is the only sane person in an insane world .
in a way , he’s very much like yosarian of catch-22 , expect with something of an attitude .
casting debbie reynolds as beatrice is perfect .
she assumes the part with ease , even moving and speaking a little slowly , and is just so adorable it’s hard to get mad at her character .
this only helps the audience to share the frustration john feels when dealing with her .
as his first choice , brooks originally wanted to lure nancy reagan out from her acting retirement to play beatrice , but the former actress and first lady could not leave her husband , who was beginning to show symptoms of alzheimer’s disease .
that may be just as well , since reynolds lends a softness to the character which enhances it immensely .
rob morrow also does a good job at playing the younger brother who has always been mother’s favorite and , for all his success in his job and family , is slowly exposed as a mama’s boy .
the only things that hold this movie back from being better are a couple of plot holes .
a solid connection is not really made between john’s troubles and his reasons for living with his mother .
additionally , the end results of the experiment do not necessarily jibe with the stated goals , and although this may have been sloppy screenwriting , how can you be mad at the guy who also wrote this ? :
beatrice : you must think i’m some kind of moron .
john : no , i think your someone who thinks i’m a moron .
beatrice : well , it takes one to know one .