Review: Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son

Reviews

Georgia Rule

An extension of Lohen's bad girl persona

By TOM MEEK | May 17, 2007

2.0 Stars

GEORGIA RULE: A good looking cast, does not a morality film make.

Abusive sex with a minor is no trite matter, yet in Garry Marshall’s female-empowerment yarn it’s bandied about like a tennis ball on a summer day. On Marshall’s side are three talented actresses who captivate the camera. The manipulative artifice centers on Lindsay Lohan’s Rachel, who seems an extension of Lohan’s bad-girl persona. Rachel parties too much, she’s precocious, and she’s also a thorn in the second marriage of her mother (Felicity Huffman), so she’s sent off to her grandmother (Jane Fonda) in Idaho for a dose of shaping up. Rachel is not one to be bridled, however. She offers panty-less glimpses and blows a Mormon virgin, all before dropping the bomb that her stepdad had sex with her. Is she lying for attention, or does her mother’s idealised menage conceal an ugly truth? That note gets played too often, but the hard work of Lohan, Huffman, and Fonda give the flimsy pretext depth.

Related: D-Back rampage, The King, Comma self, More

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The great 2006 defensive-back crime rampage continues.
The King
When things go bad, they go Biblically bad. Watch the trailer for The King (QuickTime)
Comma self
The “comma self” murder has for decades been one of the most important innovations in American-headline literature, a testament to both our national fascination with verbal brevity and to our sociopathic, codependent relationship to deadly violence: FLA. MAN KILLS WIFE, DOG, MOTHER, ACCOUNTANT, SELF.
Escaping the life
Like the drug dealers in The Wire or accounts of illegal trafficking of any form, the current and former teenage prostitutes in David Schisgall's documentary Very Young Girls don't often refer to their trade as a job.
Ending violence
V-Day is once more upon us, and for those not partial to Hallmark-driven capitalism, the V now also popularly stands for "Vagina" or "Victory," thanks to Eve Ensler's famous monologues about violence against women.
Doing the right thing
There are plenty of stories that harken back to a Golden Age, but Harper Lee's 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird was different.
Personal fouls
The biggest story in sports media last week was the discovery of surreptitiously shot nude-video footage of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews, whose comeliness has made her a favorite — and sometimes a fetish — of the online sports commentariat.
True grit
Operation Bobbi Bear is a non-governmental organization in Durban, South Africa, devoted to finding care and foster homes for children who are abused and abandoned.
Bishop’s puzzlement on pro-choice Catholics is misplaced
Dogma doesn’t pay the rent, feed a hungry child, or pay for medicine; nor do arrogance, hypocrisy, or feigned bewilderment.
Southern discomfort
A pair of recent developments in the Sun Belt serves as a useful reminder that antagonism between government and the press can get a whole lot nastier.
Remember the '80s?
Times have been tough for professional baseball this year.
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Topics: Reviews , Crime, Jane Fonda, Sexual Offenses, More

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