Product Details

• Actors: Diane Keaton, Liam Neeson, Jason Robards, Ralph Bellamy, Teresa Wright
• Directors: Leonard Nimoy
• Writers: Michael Bortman, Sue Miller
• Producers: Arne Glimcher, Daniel J. Heffner
• Format: Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Touchstone / Disney
• VHS Release Date: June 4, 2002
• Run Time: 103 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301225368
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #278,609 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

After finding a sexually liberated boyfriend, a divorced woman gets sued over her daughter's custody by her ex-husband, who claims that her lover has a bad influence on the child.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So Powerful, So Wonderful, July 15, 2003

By 

Lisa Verson (Dayton, OH) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Good Mother [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I was warned before watching this movie that it would not be one of those 'sit in front of the television with a bowl of popcorn' movies. For half of the movie, I just sat there, my eyes glued to the screen, watching Diane Keaton in a simply wonderful and dramatic role.

Anna Dunlap (Keaton) is a newly divorced woman with an adorable six year old daughter. They have a wonderful relationship, and it is very evident when you sit down and watch them together. Enter Liam Neeson. He starts out as a person with whom you would not want to get to know, but after a few minutes, he reveals that he's just in a bad mood and he is actually quite nice. When he first meets Molly (the very adorable Asia Vieira), she is very shy towards him, but she learns to like him and you can see that there is a bond between them. When something happens (I don't want to say what), and Molly's father wants full-time custody of her, the movie becomes a full-blown drama. It is, I admit, hard to watch some of the courtroom scenes, but they are so powerful and they draw you into the story. In a way, I saw the end result coming, but not exactly like it did. It definitely showed finality in the family.

Keaton's performace, like I said above, was incredibly powerful and she does a wonderful job portraying Molly's mother. The main reason I bought this movie was because of Diane Keaton, since she is my favorite actress and this movie shows her in her best dramatic role, in my opinion. If only it had received higher reviews when it came out. But I go by what looks good to me, and to me, this looked good, mainly because of the cast and the story.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should have received an oscar, March 21, 2010

By 

David W (Cincinnati) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Good Mother (DVD)

Diane Keaton is one of those performances that really stunned and surprised me, since she was not my favorite actress. It stayed with me for 20 years now and I think that it is one of the very best ever...she definitely deserved an oscar for this. Leonard Nimoy did a great job directing this film..he had just done "Three men and a baby" so I was surprised by the job he did with this film..wish he had done more.

14 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply a must-see, March 3, 2001

By 

Jessica (The Bay State) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Good Mother [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Being a tremendous fan of Diane Keaton's work, I rented this movie (I'm still... that this movie isn't sold anywhere), and it immediately rated as one of my top-ten favorite Keaton videos. It honestly is an enigma that this movie didn't get enough praise it deserves. Most of the scenes are incredibly sweet, warm, and intimate. That's what makes this movie so great. When Keaton's character, Anna, meets Liam Neeson's character, Leo, there's a unmistakable bond forming. I especially love the scene when Anna goes to Leo's apartment and Leo and Anna becomes one, dancing in front of Leo's sculpture, making shadows on the wall from the light shining on them from behind. This is an esoteric concept of first love. I really thought it was so sweet when Anna confessed to Leo that she thought she wasn't very good at sex, and he gently assures her that they can fix that. There's no judgment in that scene;it's obvious that Leo really loves Anna, and their love is vivid. Another favorite scene is when Anna and her daughter, Molly, are in the bathtub with Leo reading to them. This is truly intimate, and I just love the fact that they were so open-minded about being naked in front of Molly. There's just so much tenderness and love. It was, to me, beautiful. And yet another favorite scene is when Molly has a bad dream and goes into Anna's room while she and Leo are making love, and they comfort her until she falls asleep.There's another display of intimacy, about caring and love. The three of them together was absolutely wonderful. That is why I found it incredibly appalling that Anna's ex-husband, Brian, goes to court for something that happened between Molly and Leo that had absoluely no intention of happening. (I won't ruin the ending for you). But I found the ending truly sad and final. A soon-to-be family are wrenched apart by an innocent mistake. I felt bad, because I knew they could have had a wonderful life together. I also felt bad for Anna and Leo. I could really see their love shown for each other. They were so comfortable together; their feelings for each other were vivid and beautiful. This is a movie of non-judgment and unconditional love, and that's what makes it so special. I honestly don't understand why this movie was considered a failure. Keaton is at her best in this movie, and Neeson is simply wonderful. I consider myself as an efficient movie critic, and I know which movies are bad or good. This movie is a MUST-SEE!!! I acclaim Keaton especially for her wonderful work in this movie. 'The Good Mother' is proof that Keaton is one of the world's most rare and special actresses. If you're not suffering from brain deterioration, immediately rent this movie! You won't regret it.