“Mothers and Daughters” film fails to forge connections between characters

London Foster

Staff Writer

   The film “Mothers and Daughters” is a modern day portrait of varying mother-daughter relationships which but ultimately lacks true connection between the actresses.

   “Mothers and Daughters” is a drama full of many recognizable and acclaimed stars, but shows too many different plotlines and stories, making it hard to follow. Director Paul Duddridge and writer Paige Cameron jump right into the plot, leaving little time to comprehend everyone’s relationships and individual stories.

   In the film, six different mother and daughter stories arise while main character,Rigby Gray (Selma Blair), faces an unexpected pregnancy and is forced to come to terms with motherhood and her own mother.

   At first, the story seems to be centered on single woman and photographer, Rigby, giving the audience a good sense of her backstory. But Rigby’s narration is quickly abandoned and therefore leaves the loosely linked characters with little coherence.

   The film quickly deals with several serious issues such as adoption, abortion, teen pregnancy and bankruptcy, leaving the audience confused because of the fast motion plot line. It demonstrates what it means to be a mom through the ways the actresses connect with their on screen moms. Each relationship highlights the functional and dysfunctional communication between the women by showing the ways they communicate with each other.

   One flaw of the film is that most conversations between characters take place on the phone or over facetime and in most scenes technology is the main presence, becoming a nuisance. There is a limited amount of scenes in which there is face to face acting between the moms and daughters. Because of this, viewers don’t get the chance to see the actresses’ full potential in relating to each other.

   This lightly entertaining ensemble feature is tied to Mother’s Day and was released the weekend of the holiday, assuming to receive many ticket sales from mothers and daughters looking for a way to spend the holiday together. Though flawed, the film does serve as an enjoyable diversion for mothers and daughters to see together.

   “Mothers and Daughters,” rated PG-13, was released on May 6 and is currently available on Pay-per-View, Amazon Prime, and DVD.