The most interesting part of 鈥� ,鈥� a decent if forgettable action pic starring Jennifer Lopez, is the one that is left largely unexplored. The movie is a high-concept thriller that boils down to just a few words: She鈥檚 a mother and an assassin. OK, you鈥檙e probably thinking, fine.
Misha Green鈥檚 script was a hot commodity in 2017, around the time 鈥淲onder Woman鈥� opened, which had left some studios scrambling for action movies fronted by women. There were condescending headlines propping it up as a 鈥渇emale empowerment鈥� script. And, eventually, with Niki Caro signed on to direct and a movie star like Lopez on board to star and produce, it was enough for greenlight and a Netflix budget. The final film also credits Peter Craig and Andrea Berloff for the script.
But history has unfortunately taught us to be suspect of a Mother鈥檚 Day rollout. The greeting card holiday is where studios always seem to dump mediocre material that happen to have women at the center. If the movies were better, you start to suspect, maybe they wouldn鈥檛 need the lame hook. Happy Mother鈥檚 Day! Here鈥檚 a woman doing... something!
This is a bit unfair to 鈥淭he Mother,鈥� which at worst is just what you expect it to be 鈥� a mostly generic action trifle that鈥檚 very self-serious and wants to be a lot of different kinds of films. Lopez鈥檚 character is basically Jason Bourne, James Bond, John Wick and Nikita rolled into one, at least when it comes to her skills which are vast and seemingly just the product of her tours in Afghanistan She鈥檚. Just. That. Good.
After her military service, she鈥檚 left with few job prospects so she becomes a guard in Guantanamo and gets entangled, professionally and personally, with a few handsome arms dealers, Adrian (Joseph Fiennes) and Hector (Gael Garc铆a Bernal). A bit of this is revealed in a brief prologue, in which she gives birth and has to give up the baby before even holding her. It鈥檚 for everyone鈥檚 safety and her only wish is that the kid gets placed with the most boring, stable family out there 鈥� that and that FBI Agent Cruise (Omari Hardwick) sends updates on her birthdays.
There is a 鈥淢amma Mia鈥�-esque mystery about who the father is and an even bigger mystery about if this pregnancy was planned or expected or wanted. And all of this is very interesting in theory. But the movie itself is set 12 years later when Mother learns that the daughter (who does get a name, Zoe) is in danger. This brings her out of her glamorously rugged Alaska retirement and back in action as a superhuman spy/assassin/one-woman army.
At first, Mother denies her Mother-hood to Zoe (Lucy Paez), whose foster parents get about as much character development and screen time as a couple in a cell phone commercial. This is supposed to be a big emotional journey for Mother and Zoe and the viewing audience, but I can鈥檛 say this movie ever really convinces you to care about this relationship, which is especially odd because there have been plenty of random pairings of adult assassins and non-blood relation children in movies that I鈥檝e felt invested in. 鈥淭he Mother鈥� just expects that you鈥檙e on board with some essential connection, which Paul Raci (nice to see him again on screen) tries his best to sell.
As expected, Lopez is an athletic and capable action hero (maybe too capable, but that could also be said of most of the guys out there, too). This is taken much more seriously than the over-the-top and Caro and her filmmaking team ably capture Lopez in all her glory, whether walking through the Alaskan snow framed by a fur hood, jumping out of multi-story parking garages and sliding over cars in a chase, or dancing with Fiennes in a body hugging dress. It鈥檚 all a much better showcase for Caro as a director in this big budget arena than the live-action 鈥淢ulan鈥� was.
Lopez鈥檚 output has been prolific lately as she and her closest collaborators continue to look for interesting projects for her, undeterred by any Hollywood or societally imposed ideas about movies a woman in her 50s should be making. Romantic comedies, action movies 鈥� they鈥檙e all fair game, which is great. You just wish the movies could match the ambition.
鈥淭he Mother,鈥� a Netflix release streaming Friday, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for 鈥渧iolence, some language and brief drug use.鈥� Running time: 115 minutes. Two stars out of four.
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Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr.
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
