''Mother's Day'' is a 2016 American
romantic dramedy
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
film directed by
Garry Marshall
Garry Kent Marshall (November 13, 1934 – July 19, 2016) was an American filmmaker and actor. He started his career in the 1960s writing for ''The Lucy Show'' and ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' before he developed Neil Simon's 1965 play ''The Odd Co ...
and written by Marshall, Tom Hines, Lily Hollander, Anya Kochoff-Romano, and Matt Walker. It features an
ensemble cast
In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17
Structure
In contrast to ...
including;
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress and film producer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Since her career ...
,
Kate Hudson
Kate Garry Hudson (born April 19, 1979) is an American actress and businesswoman. She has received numerous awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award and a Satellite Award, as well as nominations f ...
,
Shay Mitchell
Shannon Ashley Garcia "Shay" Mitchell (born April 10, 1987) is a Canadian actress and model. She rose to prominence for her role as Emily Fields in the mystery thriller drama series ''Pretty Little Liars'' (2010–2017), which earned her nom ...
,
Julia Roberts
Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles in films encompassing a variety of genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and thr ...
,
Jason Sudeikis
Daniel Jason Sudeikis ( ; born September 18, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. In the 1990s, he began his career in improv comedy and performed with ComedySportz, iO Chicago (Improv Olympic), and The Second City. In 20 ...
,
Timothy Olyphant
Timothy David Olyphant ( ; born May 20, 1968) is an American actor. He made his acting debut in an off-Broadway theater in 1995, in ''The Monogamist'', and won the Theatre World Award for his performance, and then originated David Sedaris' ''Th ...
,
Britt Robertson
Brittany Leanna Robertson (born April 18, 1990) is an American actress. She is known for her lead role in '' The First Time'' (2012), and has appeared in the films ''Tomorrowland'' (2015), '' The Space Between Us'' (2017), ''A Dog's Purpose'' ...
,
Jack Whitehall
Jack Peter Benedict Whitehall (born 7 July 1988) is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. He is known for starring as JP in the series '' Fresh Meat'' (2011–2016) and Alfie Wickers in the series '' Bad Education'' (2012–2014, 20 ...
,
Héctor Elizondo
Héctor Elizondo (born December 22, 1936) is an American character actor. He is known for playing Phillip Watters in the television series ''Chicago Hope'' (1994–2000) and Ed Alzate in the television series '' Last Man Standing'' (2011–2021) ...
, and
Margo Martindale
Margo Martindale (born July 18, 1951) is an American character actress who has appeared on television, film, and stage. In 2011, she won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Critics' Choice Television Award for her recurring role as Mags Bennett on '' ...
. Filming began on August 18, 2015, in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. It was the final film of Marshall's career prior to his death in July 2016 as well as the final film appearance of his sister Penny before her death in December 2018.
''Mother's Day'' was theatrically released in the United States on April 29, 2016 by
Open Road Films
Open Road Films, LLC (formerly Global Road Entertainment from 2017 to 2018) is an American film production and distribution company based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by Eric Hohl on March 26, 2011 as a joint venture between the t ...
. It was panned by critics and grossed $48 million worldwide. At the
37th Golden Raspberry Awards
The 37th Golden Raspberry Awards, or Razzies, was a parodic awards ceremony that honored the worst the film industry had to offer in 2016. The Golden Raspberry Awards, also known as the ''Razzies'', are awarded based on votes from members of the ...
, Roberts and Hudson received nominations for
Worst Actress and
Worst Supporting Actress respectively.
Plot
As Mother's Day nears, a group of seemingly-unconnected people in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
come to terms with their relationships with their mothers.
Sandy is a divorced mother of two sons, Mikey and Peter, whose ex-husband, Henry has recently remarried a younger woman, Tina. Still getting used to this, she meets Bradley, a former marine, in the supermarket. Bradley's wife Dana, a Marine Lieutenant, died a year ago, leaving him with their two daughters, Vicky and Rachel. They all miss her terribly.
Kristin, adopted from birth, has her own daughter, Katie and mulls over marrying the father of her child, Zack. She considers her life incomplete and her friend Jesse encourages her to search for her birth mother. Jesse also happens to be Sandy's best friend.
Jesse and her sister Gabi have their own issues with their parents, who they feel are too racist and homophobic to be in their lives: Jesse is married and has a son, Tanner with Russell, who is not white. Gabi is married to her girlfriend Max and has a son, Charlie. When their parents, Earl and Florence suddenly show up, plenty of catching-up is in order.
As she's in Atlanta promoting her latest book, Miranda, an accomplished author and television personality, gets a surprise visit from Kristin, who is her daughter who she was forced to give her up for adoption at birth, as she was very young. Their making up leads to Kristin asking Zach to marry her on air and marrying on the same day, so Miranda can participate.
Jesse and Gabi's parents ambush them and their partners on their camper-van, and with Russell's mom's help through Skype, force him to make up with Jesse. Later on, the families including his mom, who flies in from Vegas, celebrate Mother's Day with a picnic in the park.
Sandy and Bradley meet again by chance in the hospital. She's there because of her younger son's asthma attack, he because of a mishap in the Mother's Day party he was throwing which ended with his going to the hospital for a broken leg. Helping her get unstuck from a vending machine, combined with his daughters' encouragement, Bradley finally starts to see her in a positive light.
Cast
Production
Development
In April 2013,
Dennis Dugan
Dennis Barton Dugan (born September 5, 1946) is an American director, actor, writer, artist and comedian. He is known for his partnership with comedic actor Adam Sandler, for whom he directed the films ''Happy Gilmore'', '' Big Daddy'', ''The Be ...
confirmed that he would next develop
Garry Marshall
Garry Kent Marshall (November 13, 1934 – July 19, 2016) was an American filmmaker and actor. He started his career in the 1960s writing for ''The Lucy Show'' and ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' before he developed Neil Simon's 1965 play ''The Odd Co ...
's comedy film ''Mother's Day.''
Casting
On June 30, 2015, four cast members were announced,
Julia Roberts
Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles in films encompassing a variety of genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and thr ...
,
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress and film producer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Since her career ...
,
Kate Hudson
Kate Garry Hudson (born April 19, 1979) is an American actress and businesswoman. She has received numerous awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award and a Satellite Award, as well as nominations f ...
, and
Jason Sudeikis
Daniel Jason Sudeikis ( ; born September 18, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. In the 1990s, he began his career in improv comedy and performed with ComedySportz, iO Chicago (Improv Olympic), and The Second City. In 20 ...
. The film was directed by Garry Marshall and scripted by Anya Kochoff-Romano and Lily Hollander.
Brandt Andersen produced, along with Wayne Rice and Mike Karz.
On July 22, 2015,
Open Road Films
Open Road Films, LLC (formerly Global Road Entertainment from 2017 to 2018) is an American film production and distribution company based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by Eric Hohl on March 26, 2011 as a joint venture between the t ...
acquired US distribution rights to the film and it was revealed that Matt Walker and Tom Hines would co-write the script.
On August 21, 2015,
Ella Anderson
Ella Aiko Anderson (born March 26, 2005) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress, starring as Piper Hart on the Nickelodeon television series ''Henry Danger'', and is also known for playing the role of Rachel Rawlings i ...
joined the film's cast to play Vicky, Sudeikis' character's daughter.
On August 26, 2015,
Timothy Olyphant
Timothy David Olyphant ( ; born May 20, 1968) is an American actor. He made his acting debut in an off-Broadway theater in 1995, in ''The Monogamist'', and won the Theatre World Award for his performance, and then originated David Sedaris' ''Th ...
,
Britt Robertson
Brittany Leanna Robertson (born April 18, 1990) is an American actress. She is known for her lead role in '' The First Time'' (2012), and has appeared in the films ''Tomorrowland'' (2015), '' The Space Between Us'' (2017), ''A Dog's Purpose'' ...
,
Shay Mitchell
Shannon Ashley Garcia "Shay" Mitchell (born April 10, 1987) is a Canadian actress and model. She rose to prominence for her role as Emily Fields in the mystery thriller drama series ''Pretty Little Liars'' (2010–2017), which earned her nom ...
,
Jack Whitehall
Jack Peter Benedict Whitehall (born 7 July 1988) is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. He is known for starring as JP in the series '' Fresh Meat'' (2011–2016) and Alfie Wickers in the series '' Bad Education'' (2012–2014, 20 ...
,
Loni Love
Loni Love (born July 14, 1971) is an American comedian, television host, actress, author, and former electrical engineer. While working as an electrical engineer in the early 2000s, she switched to music engineering, until later launching a caree ...
, and
Aasif Mandvi
Aasif Hakim Mandviwala (born March 5, 1966), known professionally as Aasif Mandvi (, ), is a British-American actor, comedian and author. He was a correspondent on ''The Daily Show'' from 2006 to 2017. Mandvi's other television work includes the ...
joined the cast.
On October 6,
Hilary Duff
Hilary Erhard Duff (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress and singer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including seven Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, four Teen Choice Awards and two Young Artist Awards. She began her acti ...
was confirmed to appear, but she declined due to scheduling conflicts with filming the second season of her show ''
Younger''.
Filming
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
on the film began on August 18, 2015, in Atlanta. Though shooting her part required only four days,
Julia Roberts
Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles in films encompassing a variety of genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and thr ...
was paid $3 million.
Release
''Mother's Day'' was released domestically on April 29, 2016 by
Open Road Films
Open Road Films, LLC (formerly Global Road Entertainment from 2017 to 2018) is an American film production and distribution company based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by Eric Hohl on March 26, 2011 as a joint venture between the t ...
.
Reception
Box office
''Mother's Day'' grossed $32.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $16.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $48.8 million, against a production budget of $25 million.
In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside ''
Keanu'' and ''
Ratchet & Clank
''Ratchet & Clank'' is a series of action platformer and third-person shooter video games. The franchise was created and developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for PlayStation consoles, such as PlayStation ...
'', and was projected to gross around $11 million from 3,035 theaters in its opening weekend.
The film grossed $2.6 million on its first day and $8.4 million in its opening weekend, finishing 4th at the box office, behind ''
The Jungle Book
''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, ...
'' ($43.7 million), ''
The Huntsman: Winter's War'' ($9.6 million), and ''Keanu'' ($9.5 million). In its second weekend, which coincided with the holiday, the film grossed $11.1 million (an increase of 32.5%), finishing 3rd at the box office, behind ''
Captain America: Civil War'' ($179.1 million) and ''The Jungle Book'' ($24.5 million).
Critical response
On
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has an approval rating of 8% based on 157 reviews and an average rating of 2.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Arguably well-intended yet thoroughly misguided, ''Mother's Day'' is the cinematic equivalent of a last-minute gift that only underscores its embarrassing lack of effort." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a score of 18 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
Richard Roeper
Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American columnist and film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times''. He co-hosted the television series '' At the Movies'' with Roger Ebert from 2000 to 2008, serving as the late Gene Siskel's success ...
gave the film zero out of four stars, saying, "...nothing could have prepared us for the offensively stupid, shamelessly manipulative, ridiculously predictable and hopelessly dated crapfest that is ''Mother's Day''."
Peter Bradshaw, writing in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', gave the film one star out of five, calling it "as feelgood and life-affirming as a fire in an asbestos factory neighbouring a children's hospital."
Accolades
References
External links
*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mother's Day (2016 Film)
2016 films
2010s English-language films
2016 comedy-drama films
2016 LGBT-related films
American comedy-drama films
American LGBT-related films
Films scored by John Debney
Films about families
Films directed by Garry Marshall
Films shot in Atlanta
Gulfstream Pictures films
Open Road Films films
Mother's Day
2016 comedy films
LGBT-related comedy-drama films
Films about mother–daughter relationships
2010s American films