SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Foreverisacastironmess David's Mother is such a beautiful film. While I tend to agree that most made for TV movies are terribly weak and mediocre, but when they are good they're brilliant. I'd only say that about one in a thousand are as great as this one, people that like to think of them all the same have obviously never seen one like it. In terms of pure heartfelt emotion and genuine portrayals of human beings, in my opinion it's superior to most epic Hollywood dramas. To me the acting was great all around- Stockard Channing was good as the better-off but loving sister who fears for Sally's future but is gradually losing her patience, although she kind of overdoes it in a few scenes. I thought Sam Waterson was brilliant as a kind and sweet friend to Sally and David. I love him in the scene where he takes a firm hand to David and forces him to stop tantruming like a baby and learn how to press the damn button! They also made great use of Chris Sarandon. The flashback scene that shows how he removed himself out of the picture and Sally's life was very powerful and heartbreaking-I had teary eyes! Even the girl that played Sally's fiery daughter was very memorable and played her small part really well. She was more than a match for Alley's wit. I love a comical scene where they have a silly little slapping match over a phone call! ::: Michael Goorjian was just phenomenal in his rather demanding role. I've seen him in one or two other things, but nothing even approaching the moving performance he gives here. What can you say? He *is* that character, he seems a hundred percent absolutely real. If you were to see him in the street, you'd probably stare and think it was real. In fact, a few times in the picture you can see members of the public doing just that! When I first saw this I was mesmerized by him. He doesn't speak a word yet speaks volumes with his silence. I think he's his best in the final scene where he's all worked up and upset at the forced separation-which may be hurting him then, but is really all for the best. There's just one teensy little 'goof' that he does in the whole thing. During the carousal scene, bless im', he looks right at the camera for a split second! ::: Kistie Alley was also terrific and probably is what makes the film work the most. She's so funny and likable, but you get the sense that this woman has become hardened over the years and knows exactly how to use her sparkling wit to keep people at arm's length, and that she has little time or regard for anyone outside her own little world. She was indeed strong to take on the burden all by herself, but also such a coward, pushing people away and allowing her life to grow ever smaller, until it's just the two of them. She lives only for him, only feeling any self-worth by caring for her precious, poor helpless David, whom she gradually learns over the course of the flick is only as helpless as she allows him to be. And she learns the always difficult decision that, if she really loves him she's got to let him go. Not(as some viewers claim) forever, just long enough to let him grow and learn a little, and they'll both be so much happier for it... That's what makes this movie so great. No offence, but the other reviewers who say this drama and its ending are depressing don't know what they're talking about. It wasn't an institution at the end, and the scene of the two of them walking that plays over the credits isn't showing how it used to be, it's obviously later, showing that she's free to see him whenever she wants. This is a tremendously hopeful film, it once gave me a lot of strength. I love the realistic message that, although sometimes change can be painful at the time, when the worst part's over, then life can truly start to begin. What really was depressing was the rotten situation they were in before. It's frightening how isolated we can become from everything, and it's not as hard as you might think. It's such a great portrayal of hope because it's done in such an honest and true to life way. You can turn it around, y'know? You can have a life, and it can all start with something as small as pressing a button on a VCR! Take care, bye now.

Isaac5855 Kirstie Alley won an Emmy for her performance in DAVID'S MOTHER, an uncompromising look at a blue-collar, boorish mother, who seems to be at a total loss at how to deal with her autistic son. Alley, cast against type, loses herself in this role of an uneducated, trailer-trash kind of mother who wants to love and help her son but is never really quite sure about what she should be doing for him. The always reliable Stockard Channing is also featured as her snobbish sister and Sam Waterston is charming as a man Alley gets involved with but this is Alley's movie and she forsakes any pretense of glamor to realistically portray an unsympathetic character in a difficult situation who somehow still manages to make us feel for her even though we know that a lot of what this woman does and feels is just wrong. Alley makes the most of a rather unpleasant role and gave us a memorable television experience, light years away from her role as Rebecca Howe on CHEERS.

vtuggle I actually enjoyed this movie's portrayal of life with a severely autistic child. I loved the mom's mouthy way of dealing with her life and her reality. I could easily relate to her life and the way she was handling things. I could also understand her amazement at finding that her son could do more than she thought he could.But having the movie end with her putting her child into an institution and walking out the door.... and her final speech to her son where she tells him that she has been holding him back... that spoiled it for me a bit.This movie's very unfortunate message seems to be that it is the mother's fault that her child is autistic and the best thing for autistic children is to go live in an institution and the best thing for moms of autistic children is to put their children in an institution and get out and have a life. There is also a point made that moms who don't want to put their children into an institution are just using their kids to make themselves feel special.I believe that this movie is a very good representation of 1994. Kirstie Alley did a fantastic job of conveying the complex emotions involved in raising a child who simultaneously needs her desperately and barely acknowledges her existence.The speech that she gave when her husband was leaving her was exactly right. We do what we have to do no matter how hard it is to do. And the unfortunate truth is that most fathers of special needs kids do leave. They can't handle it and they give up, leaving it all to the mother to handle on her own. And by the time some actually nice man comes along who wants to accept and help and be part of the family the mother is so worn out she cannot feel anything except what must be done. The complex combination of hope and despair was beautifully portrayed here.I would love to see this movie made again with the same cast but with a different ending. I would like to see the mom find a school that was during the day only to take care of and teach her son and then she could have her days free to pursue her own interests. She could see her son's progress and learn how to help him learn life skills at home. As she begins to relax and have more hope and less despair on a daily basis she becomes able to reconnect with her own self again.Of course I love Kirstie Alley, Stockard Channing and Sam Waterston so much I would watch those three do just about anything. It was such a treat to see all three of them together and doing a show about a subject so close to my heart.

Rory Conn Finally, a film which portrays autism with some realism. this film describes the challenges of raising a disabled child, how it may affect family relations, and its rewards. David is severely autistic. He has no savant skills (Hollywood's usual obsession with the disorder), think Rain Man; similarly there is no 'miracle cure' offered. For other autism films which are far less accurate and therefore damaging, see: Mercury Rising, Silent Fall, Molly, House of Cards, I am Sam, The Pit. A generally well acted film. Kirstie Alley is excellent. Stockard Channing has her moments, but regularly verges on serious over-acting. Sam Waterson, if not actually autistic himself (surely he is!?) is amazing. Well worth a watch, particularly if only to find an alternative to the inaccurate representations of autism which Hollywood thrives on.