Momma's Man

The problem with this film is not the acting, editing, and direction. Those are fine. The problem is the story. I found it aggravating.

A married man living in L.A. travels to New York City on business. He uses the opportunity to visit his parents in Manhattan. Reunited with his old bed, toys and comic books, this presumed mature man makes a gradual psychological descent into adolescence, reclaiming his status as momma's boy.

The whole film is taken by this slow and gently grinding descent. I simply could not connect with such a narrative. The only thing that kept me from exiting the theater were the parents, the sane side of this story. The mother is naturally happy to have her son back and be a well-meaning pain-in-the-neck while the sensible father becomes progressively more concerned with his son's infantile behavior.

This film is certain to draw radically opposite opinions. When I saw it, a number of people left after thirty minutes. Friends, associates and fans of the director gave him a standing ovation.

I saw this movie at Sundance Film Festival last night and it was horrible.

This is the story of a guy with no life and no personality who can't face his own problems and instead refuses to leave his parent's apartment.

The plot drags along and the characters are painfully boring and uninteresting.

Dozens of theatergoers walked out in the middle of this film and I wish I had, I'm not going to be getting that time back.

Do yourself a favor and go see one of the other great independent films traveling the film festival circuit and dump this disaster.

This is simply one of the finest independent films I've ever seen, a story told with minimal dialogue but maximum heart and soul. Anyone who can't understand why Mikey is scared to leave his parents' home (and there seem to be a few of those shallow folks writing on this board) should get into therapy right away. In any case, Azazel Jacobs has remarkable insight and considerable writing and directorial skill, and his parents are wonderful as the parents in the film. Meanwhile, Matt Boren seems not to be getting enough praise for his amazing performance as Mikey. He's a fine and resourceful actor with a very expressive face. This movie is marvelous, and a completely must-see.

I watched this movie, and my reaction was mixed. I do not enjoy this movie as much as I hoped to (maybe because this movie is a tad slow and without climax, and because it dealt with matters that I do not feel connected to) but I know that this issue does exist.

The feeling that one have grown up and have responsibilities they have to shoulder, i.e having a family and jobs and own life, but at same time feels that one is not wanting to have all that, is real. There are some people who couldn't face reality and just wanted to break and return to their older life.

This movie dealt with real issues, and it does so without having to impose onto viewers whether to accept or not that this issue happens.

The length of the movie is not too long, but viewers who cannot comprehend the issue would find this movie a bore.

With Momma's Man, Azazel Jacobs has shattered the promise of his wildly impressive The GoodTimesKid and delivered a statement of personal artistic expression so profound and moving that I am still holding back tears days after having seen it. While Jacobs' film addresses many different issues and themes, for me what makes it so tear jerking is that it is the most beautiful and touching love letter to one's parents (and, in turn, one's childhood home) that I have ever watched, heard, or read. Momma's Man is more than just a transcendent, extraordinary achievement in low-budget film-making. It is a work of rare, true artistry. I came to the 2008 Sundance Film Festival hoping to walk away with a film that I could champion. While I discovered a small handful of superior, exhilarating work, Momma's Man is the type of experience that I wouldn't have dreamed was imaginable. I have never been so affected by a motion picture in my life. I don't want to merely champion this film. I want to order every single person I know to see it. I want to scream at every single distributor to buy it. I want to watch it again right now. Until then, I will replay it in my mind and let new tears stream down my awed, thankful face.

read the rest of the review here: http://www.hammertonail.com/?p=37