REALISTICALLY, what can one expect from a film entitled Mother’s Day? In our decadent era, is it an ironic gothic slasher? See Gone Girl for a misogynist portrait of a mad mall mom. Or does it play the Mommy-knows-best ritual and descend into queasy slop, just in time for the commercial holiday last Sunday?Well — not quite either. Garry Marshall directed 2010’s Valentine’s Day, with its faintly rancid peek at the frailties of what the greeting cards call love. Love is also twisted up in this movie, so don’t take your mom to see it (unless you’re Sigmund Freud). Though bear in mind that it is flagged as a “romantic comedy”, which means the spider-web of emotional entanglements with which it begins is (somehow) going to untangle itself.The film seems to have been intended to show several marriages or partnerships in 21st century terms, yet not to have succeeded in capturing sequential performances or dialogue that makes much sense for at least an hour. Yes, there are some famous stars...
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