This film is based on a 2012 novel written by Maria Semple. Bernadette is a loving mom with a teen daughter. She has sacrificed her creative passions to take care of her family. Her daughter Bee and her husband Elgie want to take a trip Antarctica as a reward for Bee's good grades. At first, Bernadette is on board with the trip and then she becomes too frightened to actually take the trip? Elgie doesn’t know what action he needs to take to deal with Bernadette’s behavior?? Possibly, an intervention is needed or she may need psychiatric help??
Before her marriage and the birth of her daughter, Bernadette was an award winning architectural genius. She has set aside all her previous dreams and goals to be a mother. She seldom leaves the house, she doesn’t get along with the parents at Bee’s school and her neighbor Audrey Griffin plus she hasn’t worked in 20 years. She has a phone personal assistant named Manjula in India. She regularly communicates with Manjula and this is how she makes all her purchases. Despite Bernadettes extensive experience with architecture, the family lives in a dilapidated former schoolhouse in Seattle. It seems that everything about this house is in ruin. Bernadette begins to behave more oddly with everyone after the decision to go on the trip? She allows her neighbor Audrey to have the blackberry vines trimmed on the hill behind Audrey’s house. This area is part of the property owned by Bernadette and Elgie. Bernadette knows a LOT more about this trimming work than she is letting on??
There is behavior by a mother with an eccentric, anxious and borderline agoraphobic personality. She falls back on some instances of very strong language and she over buys products from Amazon and Apple. A teen vapes and adults drink alcohol. There is marital discord and upsetting arguments. There is a LOT of discussion about sexism, stereotypes, the importance of mentors and close parent and teen relationships. 5* (I really liked this movie)
109 min, Drama directed and written by Richard Linklater and also written by Holly Gent, Vincent Palmo Jr. Maria Semple with Cate Blanchette, Billy Crudup, Emma Nelson, Kristen Wiig, Patrick Sebes, Zoe Chao, Lee Harrington, David Paymer, Megan Mullally, Laurence Fishburne, Steve Zahn, Patrick Jordan, Shaun Cameron Hall, Amy Rayko.
Note: Imdb 6.5 out of 10 with 12,749 reviews, Roger Ebert 1 1/2* Monica Castillo, Rotten Tomatoes 49% critic with 170 reviews 74% audience with1,530 ratings, The Guardian 2* out of 5* Benjamin Lee, RollingStone 2 1/2* Peter Travers, Amazon 4.2* out of 5* with 1430 reviews, Metacritic 51 out of 100 with 39 critic reviews (positive 14, mixed, 7 negative), 6.4 out of 10 with 45 user scores (21 positive, 18 mixed, 7 negative), Common Sense Media Sandie Angulo Chen 4* out of 5*, 13+ age, 4*positive messages, 3* role models, 1* violence, 2* sex, 3* language, 4* consumerism, 3*drinking drugs & smoking.
Special Note: The story by Maria Semple is a documentary novel but it is told mainly through a collection of fictional archival materials. The Antarctic Station design and construction scenes in the closing credits are actually the Halley VI British Antarctic Research Station. Director Linklater was attracted to the story because of the strong mother/daughter relationship. He is the father of three daughters and a brother of two older sisters. The production scenes on location in Greenland were hampered by a hurricane that lasted for 36 hours. Instead of waiting it out, the crew included footage in the film. This is the first feature film for Emma Nelson in the role of Bee. This is an Amazon Studios production and the company took every opportunity to include Amazon Prime product placements.
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