I have never disliked a character more than I disliked Hubert. Whiny, self-righteous, disrespectful brat. His self entitlement overtakes the majority of the movie and I just mentally switched off. I just wanted to give him a smack for the whole movie. Anne Dorval did a brilliant job as the mother.

Just saw Mommy (2014) this week, and what a revelation! Great Canadian film by Montreal filmmaker Xavier Dolan, who was only 25 when he made at, and his since gone on to win the Cannes Grand Prix. My expectations weren't high since the only other film I had seen of his was Laurence Anyways, which was really, really long, and felt longer. A number of critics commented how Mommy was I Killed My Mother inverted, told from the perspective of the mother, so I was curious to check it out. Canada also submitted I Killed My Mother for the Foreign Language Oscar.A number of critics had commented Mommy showed Dolan had matured as a director, and I could understand why after seeing I Killed My Mother. It's OK, but it's not great filmmaking or particularly mature. The protagonist- played by Dolan himself- often struck me as a whining brat. There's often conflict between moms and sons, but whether it's significant enough to be a great film is another story- she's not the worst mom ever. One thing that did impress me was how different Anne Dorval is as the mother in both films- Dolan said he deliberately cast her as opposites, and he wasn't kidding! Shows she's a great actress, and it makes me wonder which character is closer to the real her. Unfortunately, despite its Grand Prix, It's Only the End of the World got panned, but Dolan's still young and likely has a future ahead of him.

Xavier Dolan's directorial debut talks about the relationship between a single mother and her gay son, and heavily draws experience from the director's personal relationship with his own mother. The semi-autobiographical nature of the film is apparent in the authenticity and raw emotion expressed between the characters like the frustration and endless friction that comes from a relationship like this. It is refreshing to see this topic being explored through the eyes of a young adult, whose thoughts and opinions on the matter are still fresh and unaltered by time and circumstances that life brings. Dolan is young enough to remember well the feelings of overwhelming frustration to the level of almost hate experienced by a teenager having to deal with a difficult and sometimes intolerable mom, and at the same time is old enough to portray this relationship with some maturity and understanding of the mother's point of view. The result is a movie that will hit home to many people that have lived with their single mom in their teen years. For them this movie could be seen as a portrait of the relentless, absurd cycle of fights and tantrums, that while they may have seemed unbearable at the time (the character says that whoever does not admit hating their mother at one point in their lives is lying), are now viewed with a more comedic spin as to how insignificant they would often be.

While "I Killed My Mother" (J'ai Tué Ma Mére) is not a horrible first film, it's overly long and drags under the weight of deadening sequences full of bad symbolism and one note acting.The director, Xavier Dolan who plays the lead (Hubert) might have been great in one role or the other but he doesn't seem to handle triple duty (he is also credited with costume design) very well. There are indications that he is a pretty good actor and he could have benefited by the eye of a director in order to take his character from a morose and unappealing adolescent brat to an anti-hero you could actually care about. Hubert proficiently displays a lot of hurt feelings and rage toward his mother but there is little humour or heart to be seen and towards the end you just wish he'd drown himself in the bathtub in order to put the film out of its numbing misery. Anne Dorval plays Hubert's mother with an admirable degree of restraint and nuance but the cardboard cut out script and the direction that vacillates between muddy and clunky leaves her stranded as it does Suzanne Clément who plays his understanding teacher and one of his few sources of solace and refuge.The most well-rounded and sympathetic characters are Antonin, the protagonist's young lover and Patricia Tulasne who plays Antonin's mother with warmth and exuberance. These two were the only actors on screen who seemed to understand what it means to listen and to allow themselves to genuinely feel a reaction to the human beings who share the scene.On the positive side, the film is very well shot by Stéphanie Weber Biron and designed by Annette Belley. The score helps to manipulate the mood while watching but you won't remember it five minutes after the final fade. In addition to the strong look, the scenario while frequently predictable and cliché ridden captures the flavor of Montréal dialogue pretty well. There is talent here but its uneven, unfocused and jumbled, perhaps lost in the conceit of a new filmmaker starring in his own first feature.