'Mother and Child': Tale of 3 women showcases splendid cast

Try to imagine HBO without Rodrigo García.

During the past decade, the 50-year-old son of author Gabriel García Márquez has written and/or directed episodes of "Six Feet Under" and "In Treatment," directed the pilot for "Big Love" and even directed an episode of HBO's crowning glory, "The Sopranos."

With less fanfare, he's also dabbled in feature films, most notably 2005's "Nine Lives" and the new "Mother and Child," which allows its splendid cast to stretch in ways they've rarely touched before.

Annette Bening bravely explores the brittle behavior of Karen, a physical therapist who regrets having given up a child for adoption when she was 14. She seems to have spent much of her life blaming men, tracking down a bewildered ex- lover (David Morse) and resisting the advances of a co-worker (Jimmy Smits).

"This is not a date," she reminds him before anything has a chance to happen between them.

Adding to her difficult emotional state is the fact that her fatalistic, dying mother is closer to the hired help than she is to Karen.

Equally impressive are Naomi Watts as Elizabeth, a chilly lawyer who sleeps with her widower boss (Samuel L. Jackson, demonstrating an almost-shocking restraint), and Kerry Washington as Lucy, a married baker who wants to adopt a child.

Elizabeth claims she gets along better with male bosses because women are afraid of her. As if to prove a point, she has sex with the next-door hunk (Marc Blucas) when his intimidated wife's away.

Worried that she can't tell the truth about herself at an adoption agency, Lucy suddenly blurts out her convictions in a scene that's both funny and excruciatingly awkward.

García's script is an admirable attempt to bring more rigor than sentiment to a collection of stories that barely escape being labeled "tear-jerker." But it does suffer a bit from a third act that's drawn-out and moralistic in a way that suggests the censorious Production Code is still in force.

As a director, he's consistently on the mark, deftly handling near-cameo roles for Morse, Cherry Jones and Amy Brenneman — without losing focus on the central characters. This is an actors' showcase first, and clearly García enjoys demonstrating what this ensemble can do.

John Hartl: johnhartl@yahoo.com