The Mother

Jennifer Lopez gets "Taken" to another level with her own "John Wick" flick.

Film Yap is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

---

Sure, it’s hoary, but I can’t write this review without dropping the following bon mot: Jennifer Lopez puts the ass in assassin with “The Mother” (now streaming on Netflix). Whew! With that out of the way let’s get to the movie itself.

Lopez stars as our titular, nameless Mother. She’s a military sharpshooter-turned-hitwoman-turned-gunrunner (talk about cross-training and multi-tasking!) who’s found herself pregnant after entering into romantic relationships with both of her business partners – sniper instructor Adrian (Joseph Fiennes) and arms/drug dealer Hector (Gael García Bernal).

One of these “men” attempts to terminate The Mother and her unborn child with a combat knife, but she permanently scars him for his troubles, escapes, delivers a baby girl and turns FBI informant.

Special Agent in Charge Eleanor Williams (Edie Falco in what amounts to a one-scene cameo) insists that for the infant to be safe she must be put up for adoption. The Mother reluctantly accepts, but demands she receive photographic evidence and word of her daughter’s safety on each of the girl’s birthdays and if trouble rears its ugly head again she be pointed in the direction of the assailants. Agent Cruise (Omari Hardwick) acquiesces to The Mother’s requests and gets baby Zoe placed into a good home.

The Mother pisses off to the Alaskan wilderness where she has little contact with anyone save for her former squadmate-turned-shopkeeper Jons (the great Paul Raci of “Sound of Metal” … underused but nonetheless effective). Lo and behold, shit hits the fan 12 years later. Zoe (Lucy Paez) gets kidnapped and her adoptive mother Sonya (Yvonne Senat Jones) gets shot in the shoulder. Mama Bear J.Lo emerges from the wilds strapped and ready to clap back.

“The Mother” is directed by talented Kiwi filmmaker Niki Caro (“Whale Rider,” “North Country,” the live-action “Mulan”) and written by a team of noted screenwriters including Misha Green (she created WGN’s “Underground” and developed HBO’s “Lovecraft Country”), Andrea Berloff (“Straight Outta Compton”) and Peter Craig (who had one helluva 2022 between “The Batman” and “Top Gun: Maverick”). The proceedings are riddled with more clichés than the baddies’ bodies are with bullets, but I’d be lying if I said a lot of this didn’t work for me despite being rote. Jolts were had and tears were rolled.

A lot of the film’s success is attributable to producer/star Lopez. I’ve never been the biggest fan of Lopez’s as an actress aside from her work in Steven Soderbergh’s “Out of Sight” and Lorene Scafaria’s “Hustlers,” but she looks and acts great here and has palpable chemistry with Paez. Paez’s reach sometimes exceeds her grasp during more emotional beats, but her Zoe often serves as an interesting foil to Lopez’s Mother.

Caro seems to have been inspired by Renny Harlin offerings “Die Hard 2” and “The Long Kiss Goodnight” with a prolonged snowmobile chase that also calls to mind the speeder sequence in “Return of the Jedi.” (Tommy Wirkola recently wrought havoc on a similar playground in “Violent Night”). It’s the movie’s action highlight.

At one point experienced actors were given their own “Taken” in hopes of aping Liam Neeson’s success. Now, established actors long for their shot at a “John Wick” to better harness some of Keanu Reeves’ juju. “The Mother” is Lopez’s “Taken.” It’s her “John Wick.” It also feels like a Lifetime spin on the late, great Tony Scott’s “Man on Fire.”

There’s an amusing bit of dialogue describing the violence involved in producing any food … including cashew cheese. “The Mother” lacks that product’s nuts, but none of its cheesiness. In spite of this, there are worse ways to spend a fraction of your Mother’s Day weekend.