Advertising

The Seattle Times Company

NWjobs | NWautos | NWhomes | NWsource | Free Classifieds | seattletimes.com

The Seattle Times

Movies


Our network sites seattletimes.com | Advanced

Originally published Friday, September 12, 2008 at 12:00 AM

Comments (0)     E-mail article     Print view

Movie review

"Momma's Man": A subtle story of regression, retreat and unresolved youth

"Momma's Man" is Azazel Jacobs' subtle yet telling drama about a grown man who retreats to his parents' loft for a period of depression and regression.

Special to The Seattle Times

Movie review 3 stars

"Momma's Man," with Matt Boren, Ken Jacobs, Flo Jacobs, Dana Varon. Written and directed by Azazel Jacobs. 94 minutes. Not rated; suitable for mature audiences. Northwest Film Forum.

Very little is spelled out for the audience in Azazel Jacobs' drama "Momma's Man." Yet a discerning viewer can pick up so much about the unspoken dilemma of the film's central character, a 30ish Los Angeles man named Mikey (Matt Boren), just by watching the way he lumbers through the cluttered Manhattan loft in which he grew up.

Visiting his parents (played by experimental filmmaker Ken Jacobs and artist Flo Jacobs, Azazel's father and mother), Mikey slowly succumbs to an enervating depression causing him to escape from his responsibilities into comforting regression. The reasons for this are never clearly expressed, and we watch Mikey dig in for a long break from life one lie at a time.

He tells his folks that his wife, Laura (Dana Varon), is cheating on him, and tells Laura that his extended stay is due to airline troubles. Eventually he stops giving excuses at all.

Males in various stages of prolonged adolescence are a staple of popular comedies. But the emotional dismantling of a grown man, especially one who returns to the nest with almost paralyzing desperation, isn't pretty. Digging through the artifacts of his younger years, Mikey relives unresolved, adolescent anger and rediscovers such comforts as comic books and a narrow view of the street below his bedroom.

Writer-director Jacobs is one of those rare filmmakers who forgoes conventional narrative in order to tell a story through the visual details of a world and the behavior of characters within it. Toward that end, the most interesting and telling aspect of the film is how ill-fitting the rather down-to-earth Mikey seems within the ocean of cultural debris that takes up so much of the loft's space.

While his loving, avant-garde parents are clearly quite at home squeezed into a warehouse overwhelmed by stored objects, one quietly gets the feeling Mikey had to carve out some kind of lonely life there for himself. Perhaps it's no wonder he came back, looking for his reflection.

Tom Keogh: tomwkeogh@yahoo.com

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

More Movies headlines...

E-mail article Print view      Share:    Digg     Newsvine

Comments
No comments have been posted to this article. Start the conversation.

advertising

Dining Deals: Late-night Pike Street Fish Fry expands its hours

UPDATE - 09:42 AM
Deja vu: Wal-Mart, Amazon, Target in DVD price war

NEW - 10:16 AM
Movie review: 'The Box': A stylish, intriguing mess from 'Donnie Darko' director

Movie review: 'A Christmas Carol': 3-D adaptation is faithful to the spirit of the 1843 original

Movie review: 'An Education' you won't forget

Advertising

Video

Mourners gather at KeyArena for slain officer's memorial
Mourners gathered at KeyArena for the memorial service of Seattle police Officer Timothy Brenton on November 6, 2009.

Procession for slain SPD officer
Election Night: Approve R-71
Election Night: Reject R-71
Election Night: Joe Mallahan
Election Night: Mike McGinn
Election Night: Susan Hutchison
Election Night: Dow Constatine
Candlelight vigil for Officer Brenton
Flying Elephant on Aurora

Marketplace

nwautos

2009's most fuel-efficient sedansnew
Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment

Open Houses

Find this weekend's open house listings.
Or search by location:

 
Most read
Most commented
Most e-mailed
 
 
Advertising