# Serial Mom (1994)

### reviewed by
Mark R. Leeper

                                     SERIAL        MOM
                          A        film review by Mark R. Leeper
                           Copyright 1994 Mark R. Leeper

              Capsule review:  Turner has a        great time mugging as a
         psychopathic Donna-Reed-like housewife in a particularly
         interesting John Waters film.  Objectively, this film is not
         very good,        but it is still        recommended to fans of Waters.
         Rating: 0 (-4 to +4)

         David Lynch says it by showing a happy American family then panning his
    camera to show a chaos of worms        and insects crawling around underground.
    Under the sterile and clean surface crawls and slithers        the dark, hidden
    side of        the world.  John Waters        makes the same point, but makes        it a lot
    more fun.  Inside every        Harriet        Nelson or Donna        Reed is        a raging, indignant
    Jack the Ripper        struggling to get out and surgically slice away        the ugliness
    from life.  The        first scene of SERIAL MOM really tells it all.        It is a
    sunny, spring morning and perky        mother Beverly Sutphin (played by Kathleen
    Turner)        is happily serving a nutritionally balanced breakfast to her family
    including her prosperous dentist husband (Sam Waterston) and children Misty
    and Chip.  Suddenly the        pristine sweetness of the morning is invaded by        a
    fly and        Beverly        goes into action to defend her territory.  She stalks the
    interloper and mercilessly swats the fly who, in dying,        seems to contain
    more juice than        a blueberry.  Beverly is one of        society's antibodies.  She
    knows that her world needs rules to maintain order and she is ready to
    defend it from people who steal        parking        spaces,        who refuse to recycle, or
    who cannot be bothered rewinding rented        videocassettes.

         Waters has        made Beverly Sutphin into everyone who has ever        shown
    contempt for his films and the lifestyles he depicts.  She is the
    personification        of the pristine        norms of society and their less        than
    charitable defense.  But paradoxically she goes        so far that she        also is
    placing        herself        outside        the norms of the society she is        defending.  And
    Waters cannot resist turning her into a        sort of        hero standing against
    society.  There        is more        than a little feel of the feel of FALLING DOWN here
    as Beverly channels our        own indignant anger and        takes vengeance        for us
    against        the selfish jerks who are making life worse for        everyone else.        So
    we have        this interesting reversal for Waters where he is defending the
    precise        people for whom        through        his whole film career he has been showing
    contempt.

         This is also a very unusual film for Turner.  The script calls for
    someone        a little bit frowzy and        a little bit overweight.  In fact the part
    could have even        been played by Waters's        former star Divine.  But matronly is
    certainly how Turner appears.  It is difficult to look at her here and see
    the woman who was the passionate attraction in BODY HEAT.  But time has
    shown that that        sort of        film is        not really where she is        best.  Where comedy
    is hard        for most actors, it appears to come as naturally to Turner as it did
    to Carol Lombard.

         I am a little unsure what to rate SERIAL MOM.  If I divorce myself        from
    all knowledge of John Waters and the films he has made in the past and look
    at the film totally as a stand-alone film it is        no better than cable fare.
    Certainly there        is no shortage of films        that make fun of the clean image of
    the 1950s situation comedy family.  However, Waters has        always made fun        of
    those values so        has special license to continue.  It is        a running gag.        What
    gives this film        its interest is        that it        is a John Waters film.        I guess        the
    fair thing to do would be to rate it only a 0 on the -4        to +4 scale, but
    still to urge fans of Waters and fringe        fans (my category, by the way) to
    see the        film.  Even for        them far more recommended would        be the HBO film        THE
    POSITIVELY TRUE        ADVENTURES OF THE ALLEGED TEXAS        CHEERLEADER-MURDERING MOM
    which does everything this film        does and still manages to ring true and        be
    perceptive.

                                            Mark R. Leeper
                                            att!mtgzfs3!leeper
                                            leeper@mtgzfs3.att.com

    .

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