When the film begins, Theresa is at an open mic at a
laundromat. “Why are you so fluent at being incoherent?” she sings,
hitting the line hard to show the crowd she thinks it’s something special (and
that they should too). It then cuts to her at home, where her daughter Tuesday
is watching a religious cooking program (which is hilarious), while in the
background Theresa is being evicted over the phone. Maggie, her oldest
daughter, is trying to learn a song by watching a video online. So clearly this
is a musical family…of sorts. Maggie is so bloody funny as she tries to figure
out the lyrics to the song. The youngest daughter, Penelope, is too young yet
for school, but is funny as she repeats stuff she hears her mother say on the
phone. By the way, this movie is something of a family affair, for the three
daughters are played by Schuyler Iona Press, Maeve Press and Amaya Press, and
the film was directed by their parents, C. Fraser Press and Darren Press.
Theresa is forced to move back in with her parents,
people she’s clearly avoided for a long time, for her children ask, “Where
do they live?” and “Who is Grandma and Grandpa?” Her parents live in
a small town out in the country, and they seem to have changed since Theresa
last saw them, for now they’re throwing hot tub parties and such. Her parents
are played by Edie McClurg (yes, Grace from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off)
and Richard Poe (Gul Evek from Star Trek), and they deliver wonderful
performances. There are some seriously funny moments with Penelope playing in
the bathroom, and the way Theresa’s parents handle the child’s hyperactivity.
Things continue to not go Theresa’s way as she looks for
a job in town (after two days, her parents tell her she can’t live with them
forever), is forced to resort to a children’s bicycle for transportation after
being stopped by the police, and has to deal with the people her parents have
become. I love the moment when Theresa’s father says that he and her mother are
happy, and Theresa asks, “Why?”
Theresa does finally get a job related to music – writing
a song for a child’s bar mitzvah. The song is awesome, by the way. Also, this
is the only movie I know to use the phrase “angry celery,” which is
wonderful. Not everything works, however. There are some weak moments, like the
pre-meal prayer that goes on too long. We’ve seen that before, and it’s never
all that funny.
Though there are moments that had me laughing out loud,
at its core the film is fairly serious, dealing with issues like pursuing one’s
dreams versus attending to family obligations, communication among family
members, dealing with the changes that life throws your way, and so on. And
through brief flashbacks we get hints of a serious and tragic incident in the
family’s past. This is a good film, populated by interesting characters that
you’ll come to care about. And one more note regarding this film being a family
affair: Schuyler Iona Press wrote and performed some of the music in it.
Theresa Is A Mother was directed by C. Fraser
Press and Darren Press, and was released on DVD on September 29, 2015. The DVD
contains no special features.
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