Featured Audience Ratings

• jay n

  
  Two acting titans square off in this chamber piece of anger, laughter, disappointed hopes and despair. It's an intense workout for both and they are up to the challenge but it is a grim tale.

• Randy T

  
  An unsettling take on the tragic phenomenon of suicide. Great performances (Sissy Spacek and Anne Bancroft) but it's hard to overlook a screenplay that seems better suited for the stage. The back-story could have been better told through a series of flashbacks rather than… More
  An unsettling take on the tragic phenomenon of suicide. Great performances (Sissy Spacek and Anne Bancroft) but it's hard to overlook a screenplay that seems better suited for the stage. The back-story could have been better told through a series of flashbacks rather than thick dialog. But still, a fascinating study of the dysfunctional relationship between mothers and daughters.

• Walter M

  
  In "'night Mother," Jessie Cates(Sissy Spacek) spends her day cleaning the house she shares with her mother(Anne Bancroft). She also labels all of her clothing for various charitable organizations. Once her mother comes home, she asks her where her father's gun… More
  In "'night Mother," Jessie Cates(Sissy Spacek) spends her day cleaning the house she shares with her mother(Anne Bancroft). She also labels all of her clothing for various charitable organizations. Once her mother comes home, she asks her where her father's gun is before calmly telling her of her intention to kill herself that night. Sad to say, the rumored intensity of the play "'night Mother" is not on display in this filmed version that does not translate particularly well to the screen as it feels like just another made for television movie of the period. Strange as it may sound, a lot of it comes down to the casting. Both Sissy Spacek and Anne Bancroft are great actresses but their styles are so different that it transcends generations. Spacek is superb giving a very natural, matter of fact performance while Bancroft has to force herself to operate in her territory. Maybe Joanne Woodward would have been a better choice to play the mother in retrospect.