Ireland • Comedy Drama • Year: 2024 • Running Time: 89 mins
Synopsis:
Aspiring author, Edward, is under pressure to schedule a US book tour, however his elderly mother, recovering from a recent stroke, requires full time care. Then three friends ask him to look after their mothers whilst they go off to an impromptu Pride weekend in Spain
This is a perfectly cast film with Fionnula Flanagan doing some of her best work by saying nothing while her co-stars get all the zingers.
Harry Guerin (RTÉ Ireland)
Director: Darren Thornton
A Date For Mad Mary (2016) / Frankie (2007)
Writers: Colin Thornton • Darren Thornton
Main Cast:
| James McArdle | Edward |
| Fionnula Flanagan | Alma |
| Stella McCusker | Maud |
| Paddy Glynn | Rosie |
| Dearbhla Molloy | Jean |
(for full cast list, additional technical information and reviews, please visit the Four Mothers pages in IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes)
CFC Film Notes:
Some Club members, and guests, may have seen, or heard of, the 2008 Italian film Mid-August Lunch, directed by Gianni Di Gregorio (which we showed as part of our 2010/11 season), described by some as a ‘modern classic’.
Four Mothers is ostensibly a re-make of the Italian film, transported from Rome to Dublin. In Rome, the ever-present ‘glue’ tying the bachelor to his needy mother is ‘food’. In Dublin it could be said to be ‘gayness’.
James McArdle plays Edward, a writer of novels for Young Adults and a gay man. On the verge of literary stardom, he needs to go on an upcoming promotional tour to the USA – in late 2025 we could ask whether his tour would be in jeopardy due to his books being banned in some U.S. states? But he has to take care of his widowed mum, Alma (Fionnula Flanagan) who cannot speak after suffering a stroke. There is some droll comedy with a Stephen Hawking voice enunciating crisp commands from her iPad.
Into the mix come three more elderly women needing care, the mums of Edward’s gay male friends who want to get away for a weekend Pride festival. He doesn’t seem to have any non-gay friends, male or female. A decent chap, Edward tries his best to cope, suffering his private disappointment and unresolved anger towards his late father.
Unlike our last film, Peter Bradshaw was somewhat reserved about his endorsement of Four Mothers and its ability to “charm the viewer”, compared to the Italian original. But there were glowing ‘likes’ from many viewers on the IMDb website. So it will be even more interesting for the Club to see what our audience thinks. Do, please, ‘react’ by filling in the reaction slip at the end of the film or commenting via the website.