Movies for Mother’s Day
If your mother is anything like mine, she almost never goes to the movie theater, hardly even watches any movies at home, and considers her favorite movie of all-time the made-for-TV Anne of Green Gables miniseries. This doesn’t mean that she appreciates movies any less than us. She just hasn’t developed the sick fascination with the medium that many of us Flickcharters have.
How often has your mother listened patiently to you pontificate on the merits of Woody Allen’s work in the late 70’s and early 80’s? How often has she smiled and nodded as you and your siblings talked about why The Hangover was hilarious, or why Watchmen wasn’t as bad as the graphic novel’s fan boys want to think? This Mother’s Day, why not treat the woman who often selflessly watched what you wanted to watch for roughly 18+ years, and instead watch a movie that she really might actually enjoy.
Under the Same Moon
Why She Will Like It:
Alone, a 9 year old boy from Mexico travels illegally to the United States after his grandma dies to find the mother that’s been working there. Even though the story focuses more on the boy’s adventure to find his mother, it heavily accentuates the motherly bond. Kate del Castillo does a great job playing the mother who is torn emotionally with trying to provide a better life for her son financially, but still feeling the guilt of not being able to see him.
Why You Will Like It:
It’s a nice little drama that flew under the radar, but deserves to be watched. It’s by no means amazing, but the story is well told and the acting is solid. While it’s centered quite a bit around immigration, it never feels heavy handed. The story can get a bit sappy at times, but it’s a solid enough movie.
Motherly Figures You Might Want to Avoid:
Melissa Leo from The Fighter, Angela Lansbury from The Manchurian Candidate, and – spoiler that everyone already knows about alert – Anthony Perkins from Psycho. All strong characters, and well acted to be sure, but they don’t exactly express the ideology of nurturing and unconditional love that the day is supposed to celebrate.
Singin’ in the Rain
Why She Will Like It:
Moms love musicals. It’s one of those crazy laws of nature that the second a woman pops out a baby she starts wanting to hear songs about solving problems like Maria, having a hard knocked life, and how you need to be good to “mama” so you get cigarettes in jail after shooting a guy who lied about himself to sleep with you.
Why You Will Like It:
It’s quite funny – thanks in large part to Donald O’Connor – and the story itself is very cool for movie history buffs. There is one song that drags a bit and gets a little too theatric, but overall it’s a movie that even people who are put off by musicals can really enjoy.
Other Musical Options:
Depending on band preference, both Across the Universe (The Beatles) or Mamma Mia! (ABBA) can be pretty enjoyable. The songs don’t really match the originals in terms of quality, but they are catchy and work well for the most part.
Dirty Dancing
Why She Will Like It:
No puts baby in a corner, that’s why. Moms love dancing just as much as singing, and when Patrick Swayze is the one doing it – forget about it…
Why You Will Like It:
Be honest with yourself. You remember when your sister was playing this movie in junior high and would watch it three times a week. Whenever you happened upon her watching it, you would always watch it with her. For appearance’s sake, you’d make fun of her and the movie, disguising the fact that you were watching it as a joke, but you know you were watching it to see Swayze show his complete level of awesomeness. He didn’t always have to rip throats and shout “Wolverines!” to be cool. Sometimes he could just help a girl find herself through the magical art of dance.
Another Athletically-Centered Movie For Moms:
A League of Their Own is in a league of it’s own when it comes to movies representing adult women participating in athletic competition.
Love, Actually
Why She Will Like It:
Romantic comedies are sometimes dubbed “chick flicks”, and I assume your mother is a “chick” or has “chick-like” tendencies. This film features a wide range of people experiencing love and romance – and not just the extremely attractive 20-somethings that Hollywood normally shoves down our throats.
Why You Will Like It:
It’s awesome. I first saw this film at the height of my hatred of the romantic comedy genre and loved it. It’s extremely funny, very well acted, and not full of cliches that make me want to stab my eyes out Oedipus-style.
Other Good Romantic Comedy Options:
Annie Hall – for a lot of the same reasons as Love, Actually. Going the Distance is an overlooked gem too, but older mothers may not be able to relate to it as well.
Water for Elephants
Why She Will Like It:
It’s a romance that stars the extremely likable Reese Witherspoon. It also has Robert Pattinson, who many women seem to think is very attractive. You will also be taking her out for a nice night at the theater – and probably a meal before or after – which she will probably love regardless of how much she likes the movie.
Why You Will Like It:
This is the movie I am taking my mom to on Mother’s Day, so I haven’t actually seen it yet. If it ends up being bad, you can take comfort in the fact that I struggled through it too. If you find yourself sitting there wishing you had never taken my awful advice, but notice your mother is enjoying it, take solace in the fact that you can buy her the book – which I read and enjoyed – for Christmas or her birthday. As for your sanity, just mentally write an action movie script with a protagonist Arnold Schwarzenegger clashing with antagonist Christoph Waltz entitled From Austria with Love.
Romantic Movie If You Don’t Want To Pay For A Theater Trip:
Casablanca. It’s a classic for a reason. Beautiful film.
And just in case your selfishly saying right now, “I don’t want to watch any of these stupid movies. I want to watch an action movie regardless of my mom’s preferences.” I will give one last suggestion:
Aliens
Why She Will Like It:
If you have to watch an action movie on Mother’s Day, you might as well have a woman be the protagonist. Especially a woman who doesn’t rely on a man for anything and often is much smarter than all the men around her. The reason I picked this one over the superior first movie is because there is a strong motherly tie between Ripley and Newt. If she happens to really enjoy the Ripley/Newt dynamic, I would suggest you should steer her away from Alien 3. Actually, it’s probably best for everyone to steer clear of Alien 3.
Why You Will Like It:
Because it’s Aliens, and any self-respecting fan of action, sci-fi, and/or alien movies considers the first two movies of this series to be absolute gems.
The Debatable Woman Empowerment Action Movie To Avoid With Your Mom:
Sucker Punch. Not based on quality – I actually kind of liked it – it’s just a wee bit dark for Mother’s Day.
So there you have it! Hopefully this guide helps you pick a movie that both you and your mom can enjoy equally on her special day.
This post is part of our User Showcase series. You can find Ryan as sirstuckey on Flickchart. If you’re interested to submit your own story or article describing your thoughts about movies and Flickchart, read our original post for how to become a guest writer here on the Flickchart Blog.
My mom’s an odd one. I probably like Singin’ in the Rain and Love Actually more than she does. And she’s the one who suggested we go see Thor on Mother’s Day. She can’t wait to see it.
My mother hated Water for Elephants. Too much abuse.
Yeah I was wondering how much of the abuse they would show in the movie as there is a fair amount of both human and pachyderm violence in the book.
Judging by that first paragraph, my wife is a lot like your mom. (Though she might actually prefer Dirty Dancing to Anne of Green Gables, it’s close. Meanwhile, I can’t believe how much she loves Mamma Mia!) At least she’s not above watching a good action movie with me, though…
Oh, and Alien 3 is not THAT bad…
The verdict is in……my mom really liked it.
And I am a successful son for at least one more year
Yes I did like Water for Elephants. I did read the book first and am always leary of movies trying to capture the whole concept of the book. But this did a great job. The Mother’s Day was great too.