MOTHER AND CHILD — ★★1/2 — Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, Kerri Washington; rated R (sex, profanity, nudity, vulgarity, slurs); Broadway Centre
Well, two out of the three isn't bad.
The drama "Mother and Child" tries to weave three seemingly separate tales about motherhood into a richer cinematic tapestry.
And as far as the stories are concerned, a couple of them are pretty good. But the nearly disastrous third section unravels the entire movie.
That's because this final portion features a "twist" that's supposed to tie everything together and end it on a poignant note. Unfortunately, it's unconvincing and contrived — it's the sort of thing M. Night Shyamalan would do, if he made domestic dramas instead of thrillers.
Still, this Los Angeles-centric dramatic feature boasts strong performances.
Annette Bening stars as Karen, a middle-age, physical therapist who's still haunted by the fact that she gave up her child for adoption years ago.
Her plight is contrasted with that of career woman Elizabeth (Naomi Watts). She has discovered she is pregnant. The father is either her new boss, Paul (Samuel L. Jackson), or Steven (Marc Blucas), her married next-door neighbor.
And bakery shop owner Lucy (Kerri Washington) desperately wants a child. However, she and her husband, Joseph (David Ramsey), are unable to conceive, so they're looking at adoption as a viable alternative.
As a character piece, the film works fairly well. The story line that examines Karen's will-she-or-won't-she? relationship with a co-worker, Paco (a very-welcome Jimmy Smits) is the best thing about the movie.
Watts is good as well as the determined Elizabeth, and she has surprising chemistry with both Jackson and Blucas.
It's Washington's story that feels half-hearted, though. That's not because of anything Washington does or doesn't do. It's the hackneyed plotting.
Screenwriter/director Rodrigo Garcia ("Nine Lives") clearly has a lot to say on this subject — perhaps too much for the good of the movie, which begins to feel overlong and rambling.
And again, when the three story leads start to intersect, it's a disappointing turn. It complicates material that should have stayed simple.
"Mother and Child" is rated R and features simulated sex and other sexual contact, strong sexual language (profanity, vulgarity and other sexually frank talk), female nudity, other off-color language and references, and derogatory language and slurs (some dealing with race and ethnic heritage). Running time: 127 minutes.
e-mail: jeff@desnews.com