Well acted (Jamie Lee Curtis does a great job) and with a plot (and jump scares) that will leave you grabbing your sit, this thriller may be a bit too much for some people, specially considering that incest and pedophilia are among its themes.A disturbed woman returns to her family after being gone without any explanation for 3 years. She now wants her husband back while using her oldest son (the only one she seems to connect with) to achieve her goals.Manipulative, violent and cold as ice Curtis plays that disturbing role of this mother who seems she couldn't care less about her kids, only wishing to get back into bed with her husband. Not wanting to reveal too much here, I'll just say that I didn't find the ending completely predictable (was expecting worse, from the direction the movie was going). All in all, this was a very tense and at the same time entertaining movie. I'd advise any thriller fan to give it a try, always keeping in mind that it was done in the 90's.

This movie is a great example of why a guy who's gone through a bitter divorce should not try to make a Fatal Attraction-style erotic thriller. I don't know if it was the writers, the director or some studio executive, but I know that somebody vital to this production was really ticked off at his ex-wife. It's the only possible explanation for this misfire.Robert (Peter Gallagher) is a successful architect with a girlfriend (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer) and three sons. He also has a wife who left him three years ago and is only now returning because Robert has finally started divorce proceedings. Why he waited three years to do that is a whole 'nother story that isn't even touched on in this film. Judith (Jaime Lee Curtis) is fairly intense and everyone, including her own mother (Vanessa Redgrave), acts like there's something wrong with her. However, for the first 45 minutes of Mother's Boys, Judith more or less behaves like a normal woman who made a terrible mistake and wants her family back.After that first 45 minutes, Judith goes from 0 to crazy in less than 45 seconds and the rest of the story is about how she tries to turn her favorite son Kess (Luke Edwards) against Robert and his new girlfriend as part of a Rube Goldberg-esque plan to kill the girlfriend. The problem is that after that first 45 minutes, the movie could have revealed that Robert was crazy, his girlfriend was crazy, his sons were crazy or Judith's mother was crazy and it would have made as much sense as what actually happened.Mother's Boys automatically assumes the audience is going to identify Judith as the bad guy and sympathize with Robert and his hot girlfriend, so it does nothing in its first 45 minutes to establish or validate that dynamic. Characters react negatively to Judith without any justification for those reactions presented to the viewer. And while she does go eventually crazy and retroactively prove those reactions accurate, it feels arbitrary and forced. Only if you're inherently biased against the mother in divorce proceedings will you connect with the outlook in this film.Now, there's a bunch of other garden variety dumb stuff here, like Robert letting Kess spend the weekend with Judith AFTER she fakes a violent attack on herself and blames Robert's girlfriend. Judith takes a broken piece of glass and cuts her own face, yet Robert has almost no hesitation in sending his son to be with such a psycho. And Robert's the one we're supposed to be rooting for? There's also the fact that both Robert and Judith apparently thought it was okay for their very young children to play around with real handcuffs. Who lets kids play with real handcuffs?Fundamentally, though, it's the prejudice against the wife/mother character than dominates this movie and warps it into something silly and superficial. This could have made a good story but only if it was told by somebody that wasn't already angry at his ex-wife.There is some female nudity here, but mostly from an obvious body double with only a nip slip from the sensual Jamie Lee Curtis. An oddly oblique incest reference also crops up.Mother's Boys might have some use as a Rorschach Test for women dating a recently divorced guy. If he thinks this is a great film, he's probably still got a lot of rage to work out. As general purpose entertainment, it's a failure.

After three years traveling, sexy psycho mom Jamie Lee Curtis (as Judith "Jude" Madigan) wants to move back in with handsome husband Peter Gallagher (as Robert Madigan) and their three cute young sons. But, Mr. Gallagher has proposed to new mate Joanne Whalley-Kilmer (as Colleen "Callie" Harland), an assistant principal at the kids' school, who is ready for bed. But, Ms. Curtis will not to go quietly into her marriage's final good night; she demands visiting rights to "Mother's Boys", and casts her wicked spell over the lads and their dad.Emotionally disturbed twelve-year-old Luke Edwards (as Kes) is old enough to remember his mother's mean streak; but, Curtis decides to seduce her son into helping mom get rid of Ms. Whalley-Kilmer (as in Val). Little brothers Colin Ward and Joey Zimmerman are manipulated into assistance. The distinguished Vanessa Redgrave, playing Curtis' mother, takes a tumble while trying to help stop her daughter's nasty plan. Mainly, the story revolves around Curtis and young Edwards. They do well with their roles, but story is lacking.A sequence wherein Curtis strips to show Edwards her Cesarean scar and joins her young son in bed, may be considered offensive; but, it certainly fits Curtis' character. The real problem with "Mother's Boys" is that many of the characters are made to do really dumb things in the most stupid ways. The story structure renders it most unconvincing. Still, the unintentional laughs, a few exciting scenes (directed by Yves Simoneau), and nice cinematography (by Elliot Davis) make the film more entertaining than not. But, be prepared to giggle.****** Mother's Boys (3/18/94) Yves Simoneau ~ Jamie Lee Curtis, Luke Edwards, Peter Gallagher, Joanne Whalley

Here's the situation: Your wife leaves you alone with three young boys, you move on with your life, you find a beautiful woman who takes care of those boys as if they are her own, your mother-in-law takes your side, but then the mother of your children returns wanting you and the kids back into her life.Jamie Lee Curtis plays the psycho mother who beguiles her eldest son into acting as a unwitting tool in getting her back into the family and getting rid of Dad's girlfriend.Curtis does a surprisingly good job at playing the whacked out psycho mother using her children as leverage to get the father back and reclaiming her position in the household. Curtis' character is a culmination of various real women that the screenwriter no doubt pulled from newspaper stories.Curtis' character will stop at nothing to achieve her goals including putting her children in harm's way.This was an excellent film and one that you don't see too often. Normally, we are shown the father as the one who plays the deranged character leaving the mother to have to defend her children. Of course, the truth is that wives/mothers demonstrate similar despicable traits and the fact that this is revealed in the film probably disturbs people in the way that feminist's were outraged by Glenn Close's character in "Fatal Attraction".All the actors played believable roles and the suspense was quite good and to the point. This is definitely a must see for any father/husband who has had to deal with a lying deceitful wife and a justice system that automatically sympathizes with the mother, short of her being a crack-addict. I would have liked to have seen the film expose this outrageous injustice that fathers face on a daily basis. Even so, if you liked "Fatal Attraction", this film is a must see.