Smother (2008)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

I have an unexplainable fondness for this slight, oddball 2008 comedy. It's not the catastrophic train wreck others would have you believe it is. Instead, director/screenwriter Vince DiMeglio has concocted a screwball farce with off-kilter characters that alternate between endearing and irritating, often in the same moment. The film is by no means a significant milestone in cinema, but it does generate some unexpected laughs mostly due to Diane Keaton's freewheeling performance. The Oscar-winning actress may appear to be slumming here, but her dexterity is put to the test as one incredibly needy and critical mother.Usually a second banana in films, Dax Shepard ("Baby Mama") plays Noah, a physical therapist who gets fired and wants to change his luck by starting his own practice. Married to Clare, a schoolteacher who wants to have a baby badly, he finds his wife's cousin Myron, a dweeby screenwriter wannabe, parked on the couch. Later, Noah's mom Marilyn drops by unexpectedly after a big fight with his father. She moves in with her five dogs, all named Sammy Higgins, and together they find jobs at the carpet store where used to work. Her flighty incompetence gets them both fired, and things get even worse from there.Shepard relies heavily on a deadpan delivery to carry his performance. Liv Tyler ("The Lord of the Rings") is sweet as Clare, and Mike White ("The Good Girl") manages to make his creepiness oddly likable. But it's Keaton who amps up her innate zaniness to draw a beleaguered level of sympathy to a character that could have been buried in sitcom-level clichés. For evidence, watch her work the scene in the Denny's-style restaurant or trade barbs with Shepard in the funeral scene. Production values are on the modest side. The 2009 DVD features an entertaining commentary track from DiMeglio (who reveals that the story is somewhat autobiographical) and a brief making-of featurette.

Diane Keaton is going through a really rough couple of years. Lets check her last few movies:Because I Said So-Shocking film and didn't go so well at the box office, Mama's Boy- Shocking film, horrific at the box office and Mad Money-A good movie in my book, but a poor box office return.So where does that leave Smother? Here we have a mother who moves in with her son causing chaos in her son's life. Its a fun comedy, but with nothing new or exciting that we haven't seen before. Dax Shepherd steers the ship, and is actually not to bad as the lead who's life just keeps getting harder and harder. As for Keaton, well she is a lot of fun as the annoying mother who doesn't want to move out of her son's house. She plays it rather well and her character is actually quite likable. She has great chemistry with Dax and together they make a great team.So what flaws this movie if not Keaton, who has been out of form for so long? Its Liv Tyler, her performance is so fake and forced that you find yourself cringing at each word that comes out of her mouth. She is not believable at all and in a scene of her being angry she is practically laugh worthy! Its good to see Keaton slowly getting back into form after her shocking last couple of movies, Mad Money not included. But Liv Tyler needs to try harder and she is the real problem with this film. But other than that, Smother is a not bad comedy for a lazy afternoon.

Whatever happened to Keaton is what I want to know.Actually I don't, I crawled away, heaving, thinking she must owe half the bookies in Vegas, or maybe not, maybe she was just brainwashed, blackmailed and bored to death. Rich enough to adopt a third-world country, she somehow had to star in yet another cookie-cut, cliché-ridden drool'athon, based on the same character-franchise she's been rehashing since 'Father of the Bride'('91). You'd think she's going head to head with Mr.Bean.(Spoilers) So hubby (Dax) get's fired by obnoxious son of boss, his mom (Keaton)leaves his dad after classic row, and crashes over with her own dog-show in tow, oh those little rascals. Hubby's got cold-feet for diaper-duty, wifey's clock a-ticking and hey, let's toss in a space-cadet as second house-guest for good measure, all in one day because that's so funny and original. Wife gets fed up and walks away, mom leaves dad for space-cadet and the couple makes up in time for closing credits, 86 very long minutes later.Now if you have to have a space-cadet, he can't be devious as well, he can't scheme some excuse for his stayover, and if mom leaves dad, she can't hop into a cab dressed as a pumpkin just because some scriptwriter agonized over how to cheer thing up. Plus that gag whereby they invite her in only to then discover she's got her canine entourage in the cab has got to be outlawed by now. And you only get one obnoxious 2-dimensional boss to denigrate. Another movie-killer would be the movie-script the space cadet is toiling away at, supposedly more lame than the actual one, again, dejas-ad-nausea.Liv Tyler doesn't seem happy here, her voice was weird at times, it had me wondering if they later had her redub some of it, and she's a smart one, she's handled great roles and we'll forgive her for Jersey Girl, it was disaster-prone, could happen to anyone. Dax Shepard was watchable and that's being generous considering the material.Personally, it's the director, the screenwriters and especially the producers that I would love to see tar'n'feathered before shipped to Guantanamo as playthings for the prisoners, and that's me keeping this 'lite'.

I saw this film last night and I throughly loved it. Dianne as always is a piece of art. She never got out of character and I have met someone exactly like her. I have never been disappointed with Dianne's work and you definitely won't be with Smother. The combination with Dax and Dianne really clicked and it worked. This film is perfect for any age and is really a nice change of fresh air that is out there. This film is a feel good movie and highly recommend it. This is perfect for those who feel that their parents are smothering them. I see Dax is starting to have a future as he seems really natural with his character. My advise: GO SEE IT !!!