The Mother

Director Roger Michell's career to date has been an interesting series of high-profile studio projects with top-name casts (NOTTING HILL, CHANGING LANES) alternating with smaller, character-driven British films (TITANIC TOWN, PERSUASION) that feature excellent actors little known beyond London's West End. Written by novelist Hanif Kureishi, this well-acted but dramatically flawed look at an intergenerational love affair between a younger man and a woman old enough to be his mother falls into the latter category. A sharp, economical opening montage establishes the dynamic between sixtysomething May (Anne Reid) and her husband, Toots (Peter Vaughan), as they prepare to...