mydadhasnohair
A harrowing tale, Jessie Cates is an epileptic who is unable to drive or hold down a job and has decided that there is no reason to go on living anymore. She is quite serious in her intent but tells her mother that she is planning to kill herself before the night is over with. She then goes through the motions of labeling all of her belongings so that they may go to the appropriate person after she is gone.During this time Jessie gets things in order for her mother while her mother tries to convince her not to kill herself. This movie hits home with anyone who has ever seriously considered killing themselves or the people they leave behind. Excellent acting throughout as one would expect from these actors. At times the movie was humorous, emotional and very thought provoking. I swear I never cry about films but the ending just gripped me in a way only one movie has ever before, Grave of the Fireflies. The ending was so nerve wracking and tense, it will leave you thinking about the film for awhile after you see the film. This is a great film for anyone who is thinking about committing suicide as it gets you to thinking about the people and devastation you leave behind.
gftbiloxi
Written for the stage by Marsha Norman, 'NIGHT, MOTHER opened on Broadway in 1983 with Anne Pitoniak and Kathy Bates in the roles of Thelma and Jessie Cates. It proved a stunning success with critics and audiences alike, running 380 performances, receiving the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, a Tony award for Best Play, and Tony nominations for Pitoniak, Bates, and director Tom Moore.In 1986 Marsha Norman herself adapted the play to film. The roles of Thelma and Jessie went to Anne Bancroft and Sissy Spacek, and in the process of writing--and possibly under pressure from producers--Norman expanded the original play to include characters mentioned but never seen. The result was something slightly less than ideal. Spacek is perfectly cast as the suicidal Jessie, but although she gives an excellent performance Bancroft is intrinsically miscast in the role of Jessie's "plain country woman" mother. The expansion of the original story also has the effect of diluting the claustrophobic intensity of the original. As for director Tom Moore, although his work for the play was memorable, his work with the film was unremarkable.But unexpectedly, such is the power of the story's basic premise that these flaws hardly matter. Watered down, fiddled with, and somewhat miscast, 'NIGHT, MOTHER is still a knock-you-flat story that raises the sort of questions that keep you awake on a sleepless night. Thelma is an ordinary, uneducated woman who takes life as it comes; Jessie, however, is an uneasy mixture of introspection and uncertainty, a woman whose marriage failed when she developed epilepsy, whose son has become a bit of gutter trash, who has over the years become a recluse in her mother's home. She's tired of the whole thing, and on this particular evening she informs her mother that in a few hours she's going to shoot herself and put an end to it.Like the play, the film is essentially an emotional explosion between the two women, Jessie spelling out her reasons for her suicide, Thelma working to turn Jessie from it. Although the suspense of the film arises from a "Will she do it or not?" situation, the real interest here is in Jessie's motivations, the how and why of her decision, and the tactics that Thelma uses in an effort to bring Jessie's plans to a grinding halt, and the way they battle each other over the course of the film. The interest is in the characters, plain and simple.As noted, Bancroft is not ideally cast here. It is extremely difficult to accept her in the role of Thelma Cates. Even so, Bancroft gives it all she has--and the end result is quite powerful as acting pure and simple, a remarkable feat. But the real powerhouse here is Spacek: we believe her, never question her in the role, and buy into it from start to finish. Even with Bancroft's miscasting, the dilution of the play, and the uninspired direction, Spacek's performance is more than enough to render the film powerful, memorable.This is not a film that I casually recommend. It rather depends on the viewer's life experiences, and I would hardly send it off to a person in a depressed state of mind or one who had a suicide in the family. But it is worth the trouble it takes to seek out, particularly if it leads you on to reading the play itself--or better yet, seeing a stage production of the same.GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Rosemary (zelda1964)
What I gather from this film,was that Thelma(Bancroft)was blind to the pain and hurt Jessie(Spacek) felt within.There was nothing she could do to rectify the situation. The self-pitying Jessie was bent on suicide, and she had reason to believe the World was never going to change.It seemed that she was punishing herself, and felt responsible for the way her Life and Family turned out.I believe that Thelma tried to be a good mother. She did not want epilepsy to be a hindrance to young Jessie's fun and social atmosphere.Wouldn't any parent try to make her child blend in and fit with the rest of the crowd? The movie keeps the viewer on the edge; You wonder how low a person can go before he sees a "light" and gets back up again.
justsmurfie1976
I loved this movie. I caught it this morning and I was glued to the TV from the first minute. The two main actresses did a wonderful job, you don't doubt their performance for one minute. Everything seemed so real, the set could have been any house in the mid-west. This is definitely a movie that sticks with you long after the movie ends. I can't believe this movie isn't more well known and celebrated. Though I rarely watch movies a second time this is one I want to add to my collection to watch again and again. I think every time I watch this it will touch me in different ways. The story is so rich with detail, it feels as if you know the characters. A very moving, thought provoking, touching film you won't want to miss.
