When I was ten, seemingly every day on TBS or TNT, I would flip on the channel and there would beKurt RussellandGoldie Hawnbickering at each other lovingly inOverboard. It’s such a pleasant, genial film – a hallmark ofGarry Marshall’sbest work fromOverboardtoThe Flamingo KidtoPretty Woman. There’s never an inkling of cynicism present. They’re fairy tales – set not in far off castles or fantastic realms but here in the modern world.
In the latter part of Marshall’s career, the filmmaker’s turned to more star-studded anthology films (all befalling across a particular Holiday -Valentine’s Day,New Year’s Eveand nowMother’s Day). Like any anthology film, some of these stories work more than others; but that almost fantastical decency (the lynchpin ofPretty WomanandNothing in CommonandThe Princess Diaries) still remains.
The best story/section ofMother’s Daytaps into this same warm (but never sappy) feeling.Jason Sudeikisstars as a recently widowed husband, struggling to keep his family afloat after their tragic loss. It’s a simple story, the beats more than familiar – but Sudeikis sells the pap for all its worth. He’s cast a bit against type here, his trademark devil-may-care attitude tempered down into a more traditional ‘everyman’.
In this interview with Sudeikis, he discusses his love for Garry Marshall’sNothing in Common, that film’s influence onHorrible Bossesand on-set stories with Marshall duringMother’s Day. For the full interview, watch the video above.
Jason Sudeikis:
