The Good Mother (1988 film)
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| The Good Mother | |
|---|---|
 The Good Mother movie poster |
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| Directed by | Leonard Nimoy |
| Produced by | Arne Glimcher |
| Written by | Sue Miller (novel) Michael Bortman (screenplay) |
| Starring | Diane Keaton Liam Neeson Jason Robards Teresa Wright Ralph Bellamy James Naughton Joe Morton |
| Music by | Elmer Bernstein |
| Cinematography | David Watkin |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 4, 1988 |
| Running time | 103 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Gross revenue | $4,764,606 (USA) (sub-total) |
| IMDb profile | |
The Good Mother is a 1988 film starring Diane Keaton.
[edit] Plot Summary
The novel and the film are about a divorced mother named Anna Dunlap who had lived a life lacking passion. Following her divorce from her ex-husband Brian, Anna starts dating an artist named Leo Cutter who introduces passion into Anna's life. A few months after Anna and Leo started dating, Brian challenges for custody of their daughter Molly, because Molly told him that Leo let her touch his genitals. When confronted Leo admitted that when he and Molly were alone he once allowed Molly to touch his penis. But, he said, he only allowed it because Anna had been raising Molly with an open attitude towards sex, and he didn't want to scare her or weird her out. He added that he thought that is what Anna would have wanted him to do. Anna's legal difficulties become compounded when, in the course of the questioning, it is learned that Molly, who was awoken by a nightmare, once climbed into bed with Anna and Leo, and, after Molly had fallen asleep, Anna and Leo resumed having sex.
Despite her misgivings, Anna's attorney advises her to adopt a legal strategy designed to assign blame to Leo by claiming that he misinterpreted the rules. Anna even testified that, if it was a condition of custody, she would agree to stop seeing Leo. Nonetheless, Anna loses custody in court, and Molly leaves the Boston area to live with her father in Washington, DC. The court does grant Anna considerable visitation rights, and Anna, who has already started to pull away from Leo because she blames him for causing her to lose her daughter, moves to Washington to be near Molly. A few years later, Brian moves back to Boston, and Anna, who has returned to a passionless lifestyle, again uproots her life and moves back to Boston. By then, Anna and Leo have agreed to stop communicating because Leo could no longer be friends with Anna if the two could not be lovers.
