Noah Cooper has been fired from his job as a physiotherapist, and is under pressure from his wife Clare to start a family. An added irritant is Clare's nerdy, wannabe-screenwriter cousin Myron who has come to stay for a seemingly interminable visit. Just when he thinks things couldn't get any worse, Noah is descended upon by his domineering, meddlesome mother Marilyn, who informs him that she has decided to leave her husband, and - along with her five dogs - needs somewhere to stay for a little while...

Smother is an engaging comedy starring Diane Keaton as the well meaning, but overbearing mother of Noah Cooper (Dax Shepherd).

After getting fired from his job as a physiotherapist, Noah tries to turn it into a positive thing by telling his wife that he's going to start his own practise - as they'd always planned - but just a few years earlier than envisaged. However, Noah soon realises that a regular income is still needed and so he goes back to see a previous boss, who runs a carpet business, who'd always told Noah there would be a job there for him if he ever decided to go back to the carpet business.

With Noah's wife trying to start a family, and her cousin temporarily sleeping in their living room (he's in town for a screen writers conference which keeps getting put back), the last thing Noah needs is his mother coming to stay. But on Halloween she turns up, dressed as a pumpkin, convinced that Noah's dad is having an affair. Every the diplomat, Noah is trying to keep everyone happy, but it's not easy. The final straw comes when Noah's mother gets a job at the same carpet store as him. Her annoying ways end up with the boss asking Noah to sack her. This is just what Noah needs to gain control back of his life and to start standing up to his mother, but how do you sack your own parent?

The only extra on the disc is the original trailer, but then this is reflected by the low RRP.

There are some genuinely touching scenes, as well as plenty of laugh out loud moments in this film. There's a training video that just oversteps the mark of good taste when trying to educate the workers about the dangers of the workplace - showing gory accidents that would never happen in a million years. There's also the funeral from hell, which is used by Noah and his mother to air their grievances against each other.

Smother is certainly a movie that's worth checking out.

8

Darren Rea