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Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Kirsten Dunst, Nick Nolte, Sheryl Lee

The third movie from director Keith Gordon (The Chocolate War, A Midnight Clear). The 35-year-old director who started as an actor (Christine) has turned into one of the more assured directors working...( read more  read more... ) today. His films are ambitious in plot and tone. With Mother Night he works with his first major star, Nick Nolte.

In 1961, the fictitious Howard W. Campbell Jr., an American by birth, shares the same deserted prison with Adolph Eichmann. As he prepares to stand trial for war crimes, the former playwright scribes his memoirs. Now this is the same Howard W. Campbell Jr. who was a notorious voice on German radio during the war, tearing into American policy and spreading Nazi propaganda. Was he a willful participant or an American spy? Campbell, who romanticizes at the drop of a hat, tells his story of indifference, morality, and love. His days of notoriety in Berlin give way to anonymity back in the States. He purrs about his true love (Sheryl Lee) and tells truths with his shrewd neighbor in New York (Alan Arkin).

The movie is based on Kurt Vonnegut's 1961 novel of the same name. Gordon and screenwriter Robert E. Weide have an uncommon insight into Vonnegut's material: the mesh of fact and fiction, the sweeping themes, the tragic goofiness. The movie is perfectly suited to Nolte's gruff style with a husky voice that pierces the night. The film is a cherished companion piece to Slaughterhouse Five. --Doug Thomas

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74% liked it

1,732 ratings

R, 113 min.

Directed by: Keith Gordon

Release Date: November 1, 1996

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DVD Release Date: August 22, 2000

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Flixster Reviews (115)

  • habitualdamnation
    August 24, 2008
    habitualdamnation
    Started slow but turned out okay. Decent, non-demandin content. I so wished Nick Nolte had Matt Dillon's role in Factotum! See the young Kirsten Dunst too!
  • garyX
    December 11, 2006
    garyX
    Unusual and thoughtful character study featuring a great perfomance from Nick Nolte. Perfectly captures the tone of Vonnegut's intelligent but offbeat writing style. A forgotten gem.
  • threefolddado
    July 2, 2008
    threefolddado
    Tight script and direction with some good performances in this underrated WW2 drama.
  • thundercougarfalconb3
    November 18, 2009
    thundercougarfalconb3
    As many people know I am a undying fan of Kurt Vonnegut, however film adaptations of his works tend to be for lack of better word hollow. They tend to fail to convey the point of the novel and rarely capture the feeling of the book.

    This movie however is an exception. Based on ...( read more)one of my favorite Vonnegut novels, Mother Night is the story of Howard W Cambell Jr (Nick Nolte), and american playwright living in Nazi Germany. Cambell lives for his wife Helga North(Sheryl Lee), a german actress. They vow that no matter what happens in the world that their love with prevail. Cambell is approached by Major Frank Wirtanen (John Goodman) and asked to be an american spy. Cambell uses his standing in society as a playwright to get himself a radio show, where he quickly gains himself a reputation as the voice of Nazi Germany, while feeding secret messages over the air. Late in the war Helga is a casualty of the war at the hands of the Soviet Army. When Howard finds out he quits his work with the propaganda ministry and when the war ends the US government sets him up with a new identity and a place to live in New York. Years later he is in a prison in Israel awaiting a trial for for crimes against humanity. In prison he is asked to write his memoirs before the trial, at which point he writes about his life from the point he was approached by Major Wirtanen to the point where he was sent to Israel.

    This movie successfully captures the essence of the novel. While this is one of his most serious writings, the movie doesn't convey much of the classic Vonnegut humor, with exception of the few scenes featuring Robert Sterling Wilson: The Black Fueher of Harlem. The movie however completely captures the love and despair of the story, and raises the questions of what is real? what is real because we want it to be? what is real only because of the perception of reality? and what do you do when your only reason for living is taken away?

    I highy recommend this movie and this book. It is truly one of Vonnegut's masterpieces. My only disappointment with the movie was the omission of the final iconic line from the book. I won't ruin the ending or any of the plot twists throughout, you'll have to find those out for yourself.
  • psimedia
    November 29, 2008
    psimedia
    In the end, you are what you pretend to be. Whheeeew.
  • theNix
    July 4, 2008
    theNix
    Of course I had to watch Mother Night, having read the book and Vonnegut being one of my favorite authors. It was surprisingly good. It followed the original story well. Go movie people! You did well for once. You didn?t slaughter the book.
  • dynablob
    May 14, 2008
    dynablob
    Very well done. Vonnegut himself appears briefly as a passing stranger in the film's denoument. Nolte is great. John Goodman plays a character reminiscent of his role in Barton Fink. Alan Arkin is well cast of course for a film based on a book of this era.
  • funky4stringer65
    May 10, 2008
    funky4stringer65
    real good for a vonnegut book adaption. enjoyed this film a lot.
  • RadarHead
    March 26, 2008
    RadarHead
    Funny thing about Mr. Vonnegut and the truths of his mind's eye. It's rare enough that anyone spots them at all, much less from so unique an angle as he did. Some of those truths do come through here and that alone is enough to render the film a gem.
  • isaac471
    October 11, 2007
    isaac471
    Fairly entertaining, but missing something.

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Mother Night Trivia

  • quote is from which movie: ”Snowbell: Didn't your mother warn you that you shouldn't go out into Central Park at night? Smokey: My mother was the reason you shouldn't go out into Central Park at night.”  Answer »
  • In the movie independance day,(at the start) the presidents daughter tells her mother she was allowed to sit up to watch a tv show the night before. What was the TV show?  Answer »
  • from the movie " night at the museum" The woman in the employment office is Ben Stiller's mother, Anne Meara?  Answer »
  • HOWARD "I guess the moral here is: you must be careful what you pretend to be because in the end you are who you're pretending to be." From which 1996 movie?  Answer »
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