"Mom and Dad" Movie Review

By: James Southworth
Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

Love him or hate him, you can't deny that one of the most interesting actors of our times is Nicolas Cage. He's certainly an enigma in cinema. He's been in some pretty decent films, like "National Treasure" (not a perfect movie but certainly enjoyable). But he's also been in so many more films that are considered so bad they're good, such as "The Wicker Man". I don't know why Cage chooses to do so many bad films, but that's just what he's known for, along with usually giving very over the top performances that don't always fit. Unfortunately, director Brian Taylor's new film "Mom and Dad" is not necessarily the best vehicle for him to show off what he's capable of. This movie about parents who suddenly turn on their children to kill them can be legitimately funny with its very black comedy. There's some clever satire in certain segments, though it's in sadly short supply. However, it also suffers from overindulging in its violence and flashbacks that are meant to bring sympathy to the characters (but are ultimately ineffective). This movie also has an erratically paced and confusing plot arc with an underwhelming ending.

Let's talk about the parts of this film that I like, because there are actually some real high points. The comedy is easily the best part of this film. I will be referring mainly to the comedy in the first half, because the first half of this movie is much better than the second.  I liked how this film was establishing the idea that the Brent and Kendall Ryan already were having frustrating relationships with their kids. There's a pretty hysterical moment where Brent and his son Josh are in a tickle fight, and then Josh throws a soccer ball at him. For just a brief moment, you see a murderous glint in Brent's eyes, before he goes back to playing with him. It was a moment that had me bursting out laughing; I only wish there were more slightly subtle moments like this. I also found one of the first conversations between mother Kendall and her daughter Carly to be satirically ingenious. It plays off a lot of stereotypical relationships we see in films between mother and daughter. The movie is very self-aware of this, and so makes their relationship feel purposefully ridiculous. The beginning of this movie does a good job at showing exactly how tense the relationships between parent and child are, even if it is only surface level. I just wish that the film had continued to go in depth on this aspect, but it never goes much further than this. There are a lot of other funny moments in the beginning part of the film I enjoy, such as parents staring down their newborn babies with over-the-top murderous expressions. Even though the ending of this movie is weaker, I still couldn't help but laugh at watching Kendall and Brent treat the murdering of their children as if it was just any other day. Seeing them gleefully brandishing saws and hammers was undeniably hilarious.

As far as the casting of this movie goes, it's a little bit on and off for me with each actor. Selma Blair as Kendall is probably the strongest link of the cast. The audience understands her the most and her struggles as a mother. I think more of that comes from Blair herself rather than the script. Once again, most of all we know about her struggles comes from the beginning half of the movie. Those conflicts are ultimately not explored or even put in context of when she turns murderous. Still, I did enjoy Blair, even if her character was all over the place in the second half. What can I say about Nicolas Cage? He's Nicolas Cage, and that's just as true here as most any other film he's in. Your mind won't be changed on loving him or hating him by this performance. Personally, there were some moments with him I was enjoying, because he can be riotously funny when he's exaggerating his character to the point that he himself must be aware of it. But there are other points when he's such a caricature of himself that you don't really see any identifiable aspect of the character Brent. Cage is playing himself. It's an objectively weak performance, but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. Both Anne Winters and Zackary Arthur as the kids Carly and Josh really did nothing for me. They're capable enough young actors, it's just that their characters are not very compelling. Josh might as well just be a slightly annoying nuisance. There's some okay but mostly arbitrary character development for Anne that feels cliched more than anything. I found it hard to sympathize with her at all after how the movie established her in the first half. I almost wish with her they'd just gone all in on her "annoying teenage girl" archetype. I would have liked the more serious development of her character if it was done well, but it just wasn't. The only other big performance here was Robert Cunningham as Damon Hall, and he didn't do much to impress me either.

Where this film really suffers is in its plot. Brian Taylor clearly knew what he wanted to do in the comedic department, as that is when this film shines the brightest. But the story is very flimsy. It hinges entirely on the idea that the parents want to kill their children. That's it. Where did this inhibition come from? What caused this to happen? Why did it happen? None of these questions are answered, which makes the parent's murderous urges feel very sudden and random. It comes out of nowhere. Now maybe it wasn't the purpose of this movie to tell us that story. Still, it at least could've given a general idea about if this urge was a disease or whatever. The second half of this film suffers from a really big tonal shift. I was digging the first half of this movie, as it was silly and ridiculous, but in a way that worked. The second half of this film just turns into a generic slasher film. Taylor tries to make the violence have a sense of style, but it mostly just comes across as unnecessarily quick-paced action. The fight scenes aren't very well choreographed, and the camera work is often nauseating. This movie also has three out of nowhere flashbacks. In these scenes Taylor tries to give you reason to care for the parent/child relationships between Brent/Josh and Kendall/Carly. These flashbacks are so quick and inconsequential. They ultimately contribute nothing to the plot, as the parents are still going about killing their children. (SPOILER ALERT) The movie even tries to throw in another plot point where the grandparents come in to kill Brent and Kendall. This is a funny and even great idea. Unfortunately it happens near the end of the film, so there's not much reason to be invested. The ending of this movie is very abrupt. There needed to be a third act to the film, or at least more time added to it. With no breathing room or development, this movie being so short is a negative.

I don't think "Mom and Dad" is a necessarily horrible movie. I would recommend the first parts of the film to anyone, as I think they're filled with some great comedy and interesting establishment of the concept of parents wanting kill their children. It's unfortunate that the film decided not to build upon this throughout. It instead leaves the viewer not really caring about the flimsy, almost non-existent, plot. Any plot arc becomes entirely irrelevant once the film turns into a boring slasher rather than an interesting satire/black comedy. The elements of the latter genre are there at points in the second half, but aren't present nearly enough. I think stronger writing could've helped bolster what was a fine cast and a potential filled premise. Ultimately, this film had a lot going for it. But it ultimately ends up being underwhelming.