Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Mother Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 18, 2025

Here's your probably completely useless trivia for the day: Albert Brooks' real life mother was a now little remembered actress and singer named Thelma Leeds who had a rather short screen career which probably had its single best showcase in what was RKO's biggest budgeted film of 1937, The Toast of New York, starring Cary Grant, Frances Farmer and Edward Arnold. Somewhat hilariously given Farmer's ultimately tempestuous reputation (she had just come off her star making turn[s] in Come and Get It, where lore has it she chased replacement director William Wyler around the set with a fly swatter), Leeds portrays a haughty dance hall performer named Fleurique, who temperamentally throws a vase at her maid, played by Farmer, in a scene in the film. Suffice it to say Fleurique makes a rather ignominious exit fairly early in the story, leaving Farmer as the sole main female in the cast, but Leeds still makes Fleurique a hilarious and kind of pathetic character despite relatively little screen time. Albert Brooks talks about Leeds in the interview with him included as a supplement on this disc, and there's even a brief PR picture of Leeds with Grant and Arnold from The Toast of New York shown during the interview, but suffice it to say if Fleurique was a handful, the actress who brought her to life was evidently one as well.

If the real life mothering Albert Brooks had to endure was more than annoying for Brooks growing up, evidently especially after his father died and Thelma assumed both parenting roles, it may have helped up the ante for what was reportedly already a pretty acerbic sense of humor in the young adolescent. In another interview with Rob Morrow included on the disc, Morrow mentions how Brooks grew up with Rob Reiner and used to keep Carl Reiner in stitches at the Reiner household with little bits Brooks was developing, bits that the seemingly hard taskmaster Thelma wouldn't approve of. Perhaps the funniest "meta" data in all of this is that Brooks' birth name was Albert Einstein (there's a fun high school picture included in the Morrow interview), which may have predisposed the comedian to thoughts of genius.

And in fact Brooks' particular "genius" is more than ingratiating in this film, and will certainly resonate with anyone who has found themselves having to deal with or even care for an aging parent. In this kinda sorta "version" of Brooks' life (at least vis a vis his relationship with his Mother, if not the specifics of the plot mechanics here), Brooks portrays science fiction writer John Henderson, who, in the wake of his second divorce, decides to move back in with his mother Beatrice (Debbie Reynolds) in order to delve into his psychological and emotional issues with women. This "immersion therapy" goes about as well as might be expected, as each jockey for position and power in some wonderfully written skirmishes. John's momma's boy little brother Jeff (Rob Morrow) also ends up playing into the often hilariously dysfunctional family dynamic.

But for all of its undeniable humor (who ever can forget "protective ice" after watching this film?), Mother actually is rather profoundly insightful in terms of its depiction of a child coming to terms with a parent as an actual human being with a history of their own. Brooks' writing is both smart and touching, and Reynolds was offered a real opportunity to display a more nuanced portrayal than many of her heyday roles offered. There was a lot of buzz about her getting an Oscar for this performance, but as those who tuned into her guffaw inducing bit on that year's broadcast, written by her daughter Carrie, she ended up being a member of Non Nom Anon. Brooks mentions a number of other actresses he approached for the role before Reynolds (including Doris Day, Nancy Reagan (!), and Maureen Stapleton), but it's hard to think of anyone other than Reynolds as Beatrice, so fully formed is Reynolds' performance in the film.

Mother Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Criterion sent their 4K UHD release for purposes of this review. I'm assuming their standalone 1080 release has the same insert leaflet.

Mother is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Criterion's foldout leaflet included with this release contains the following information on the master:

Mother is presented in the aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Supervised and approved by director Albert Brooks, this new 4K restoration was created from the 35 mm original camera negative. The original 2.0 surround soundtrack was mastered from the 35 mm magnetic track. Please be sure to enable Dolby Pro Logic decoding on your receiver to properly play the Dolby 2.0 surround soundtrack. The feature is presented in HDR (high dynamic range) on the 4K Ultra HD disc and high definition SDR (standard dynamic range) on the Blu-ray.

As Rob Morrow addresses in his interview, Brooks is not an overly "showy" director, and in fact is kind of like the journeymen helmsmen from Hollywood's Golden Era who knew where to plant their cameras, and did so, without really drawing attention to themselves. The same unassuming quality might be mentioned in terms of the look of the feature in general, meaning that both Criterion's 1080 and 4K UHD releases of this film are practically perfect in every way, and yet by design may not offer a ton of visual "wow", and so have to be accepted on their own merits. With an emphasis on "everyday" living conditions and environments, fine detail is probably most expressive on things like costumes and sets, and maybe occasional moments with "protective ice". The palette is nicely suffused and densities are consistent throughout. Grain is tightly resolved and encounters no compression hurdles.

Mother Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mother features an engaging DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track that offers the film's kind of frankly limited sonic aims without any issues. The bulk of this offering is comprised of Brooks' often deadpan dialogue, though there are a number of source cues, as well as Marc Shaiman's underscore, all of which help to energize the track. All spoken material is delivered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Mother Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Albert Brooks (HD; 26:18) offers a heartfelt if maybe still slightly annoyed remembrance of his real life mother, as well as some of the background of the production of the film, including the many older actresses he offered the title role to before landing on Reynolds.


• Rob Morrow (HD; 11:36) offers his own memories of being cast in the role of brother Jeff.


• Teaser (HD; 2:00) was directed by Brooks and ran before screenings of Mission: Impossible.


• Trailer (HD; 2:26)

Additionally Criterion provides a nicely appointed foldout leaflet with an enjoyable and funny essay by Carrie Rickey.

Mother Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As your resident Frances Farmer obsessive, I've long known about Thelma Leeds, and in fact have advocated quite strongly to several niche label owners I know to somehow license and release The Toast of New York on Blu-ray (it's probably going to be Warner Archive if it's anyone). But even those who have never heard of Thelma Leeds but who have had to contend with their own "parental units" will certainly find both humor and angst aplenty in this beautifully written and performed film. Technical merits are solid and the two main interviews very enjoyable. Recommended.