Mama’s Boy

Filed Under: Film, Reviews | Article Tags : DVD review

By: The Dweeb

June 2008

DVD Features Video: 1.78:1 Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 Additional Scenes Commentary by Director Tim Hamilton Theatrical release: 12/21/2007 DVD released on 6/3/2008 by Warner Bros. Running time of 93 minutes Starring: Diane Keaton, Anna Faris, Jeff Daniels, Jon Heder Director: Tim Hamilton Plot: Twenty-nine-year-old Jeffrey Mannus is a stay-at-home guy. Not his home. His mom’s. But that doesn’t mean he’s living la vida cushy. What about the time his ant farm broke? Or the day he lost his hat? And now his biggest challenge just walked in the door: Mert Rosenbloom, mom’s new beau and Jeffrey’s new rival for her 24/7 attention. Mert’s gotta go. And no plot is too devious or immature to make Mert history.

You know, I had really high hopes for Jon Heder after his awesome debut in the wonderfully quirky film Napoleon Dynamite.  Shortly thereafter he started appearing in other films (none of which I have seen yet mind you), and his resume is starting to fill up with comedic works. But this thing, Mama’s Boy, should stay off that list and the master print would have hopefully burned up in that fire on Universal’s backlot earlier this week if Warner Bros. just happened to keep their stuff there too. Alas, probably not, but one can dream can’t we? After production wrapped and the final product was reviewed before it went out the door, didn’t anyone notice that for a comedy film this wasn’t funny? This thing is terrible! Granted there are worse films out there but when you have actors like Jon Heder, Jeff Daniels, Anna Faris and a mismatched Diane Keaton in here you’d at least expect something funny to happen right?

Clearly Jon Heder is not fit to play the lead role in this film, or is it the director’s fault for making him play Napoleon Dynamite all over again. The character of Jeff is almost a mirror image, he’s not been typecast now has he?  He was stiff, rigid, and clunky with almost no sign of any chemistry between him and other actors. It felt like I was watching a high school play. It became a chore to wade through this movie, watching him vomit his lines out with barely a sign of any other emotion except sarcasm. Is sarcasm an emotion? He may have been in over his head perhaps. This film is definitely more of a Ben Stiller or Adam Sandler type of vehicle. Oh wait, Adam Sandler already has a similar movie, its called Billy Madison and its actually funny.

What the heck are Jeff Daniels and Diane Keaton doing in here? Did they think this would make for a good movie when the idea was pitched? Possibly.  I can see Jeff Daniels but Diane? I thought she was a Hollywood A-lister, a class act who certainly has a pedigree for making far superior films, including comedies.  Ah well, we’re all entitled to make mistakes in our careers. I would say she was the best actor in this movie that showed any sign of a heartbeat playing Jeff’s mother. At least she and Daniels were fairly decent together on screen, but every time Jon walks in it seemed to grind right to a halt.  Oh yeah, Anna Faris is also in this movie as a potential love interest for Jeffrey but we barely see much of her character.

Mama’s Boy is definitely a candidate for the next film studio archive fire, with its predictable plot, poor acting and lack of funny moments its definitely a tough one to wade through. Aside from looking like an ad for Starbucks this film is pushing music from The Smiths pretty hard. Why is that now? Were the rights really cheap to get?  I think Warners seems to know this film is a stinker and that’s why this DVD is quietly being released.  Aside from the film the only extra features are directors commentary and deleted scenes. But who would want to see more of the stuff that sucked even worse than what was even in the film?  If you want to torture yourself go ahead, the rest of you still curious are now warned.

Reviewer’s Opinion: BORROW IT!!