Motherhood, an indie film written and directed by Katherine Dieckmann (Diggers), follows one day in the life of Eliza Welsh (Uma Thurman), an over-tired and over-extended mother of two who wants to fit herself into her mile-long to-do list. Dieckmann says in one of the disc’s bonus features that she wrote Motherhood because there were so few comedies that deal with the real and complicated life of a woman who is also a wife and mother.  I appreciate her intent, as that lack does exist, but Motherhood isn’t funny enough to fill the comedic void and it isn’t deep or real enough to resonate emotionally.
 

Eliza gave up her writing ambitions to focus on being a mother (though she does maintain a mommy blog called “The Bjorn Identity), but her aspirations have festered and the frustration explodes on the eve of daughter Clara’s sixth birthday. As she rushes around New York getting supplies for the birthday party, taking her son to the playground with the “momarazzi,” going to a sample sale with friends, moving the car, And taking her daughter to school in her nightgown, she tries to squeeze in time to write a 500 word essay on what motherhood means to her so she can win a paid writing gig for a parenting magazine.  The idea of showing just how many balls a mom must juggle in a day is terrific comedic and dramatic fodder, but it all falls flat in Motherhood.  Clichés and stale subplots abound, and the action jolts from one episode or montage to another without giving the audience a chance to absorb anything other than New York is apparently filled with the rudest, most narcissistic people on the planet.  Cloying moments are substituted for real emotion and lectures or pompous monologues take the place of actual insight, giving the film the feel of a bad family sitcom.  I wish Dieckmann had thrown less at Eliza and allowed for some organic character growth or had, at the very least, used proper pacing because while there are some good moments here, they are far overshadowed by the mediocre and bad and the frantic cuts gave me a headache. 
 

The excellent cast is really the only reason to see Motherhood.  Thurman brings an appropriately manic self-absorption to Eliza, but she is best in the quieter moments, when emotions flicker and settle on her face, giving Eliza much more depth and likeability than the script does.  Anthony Edwards is good in the thankless role of Avery, and while the dryly funny Minnie Driver is mostly wasted as Sheila, she does have a terrific riff that ensures the audience will never look at a toy submarine the same way ever again. 
 

The DVD’s video quality is very good and the exterior shots look wonderful (if a bit too Sex and the City-esque).  The audio is clear with crisp dialogue, but the background music can get louder than necessary.  For extras, there is a theatrical trailer and interviews with Dieckmann, Thurman, Edwards, and Driver about a range of topics from making the film to where they find inspiration.  None of the interviews give any new or exciting insights.  Dieckmann and producer Rachel Cohen also provide an audio commentary to Motherhood which is mostly bland, but occasionally I have no idea what film Dieckmann is watching as she speaks so glowingly because I’m not buying what she’s selling.
 

In the end, I found Motherhood to be a chore to watch and I cringed more than I laughed, rolled my eyes more than I empathized.  The adventures, travails, and, yes, hilarity of motherhood deserve better than this.