see it twice

gymnastk8

i saw this movie for the first time about 4 years ago...i liked it, it seemed really nice- these kids wish their mother away, and they have to go to a "mommy market" to get another one. they cant find one they like, so they wish really hard for their mother to come back, and their wishing breaks their spell. nice huh? well thats basically the premise on the surface, but after watching the movie a few times, i started to think about it and really listen to some of the lines- theres definately more to this movie than meets the eye. i havent read the book it was based on, so i might be wrong, but my theory is that these three kids wish that all memory of their mother dissapear, and when this happens, every aspect of their mother (cooking, shopping, cleaning, playing games, etc) is portrayed as a mother. the kids pick the aspects that they like best, and they think they will be happy, but the truth is they need all the aspects of their mother. the woman who lives next door to them tries to explain this but rather cryptically- she cant exactly say it or they wont figure it out for themselves. she tells them that they have to really truly pick their mother. what they have been doing is picking a mother than they think is the coolest mom or the most fun. when they create a memory, they are picking a mother who really cares about them and who they really love. this brings her back. the only thing that is confusing is that when the spell is broken (when they wake up the next day and see their mother) there are still signs of the other mothers having been there (fluffy pillows, a circus prop, and a racoon trap). im probably way over-analyzing this movie, but i think its a really interesting film that u should see.

score /10

gymnastk8 16 February 2002

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0351190/