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Released by: Shout! Factory
Released on: May 10th, 2016.
Director: Lamont Johnson
Cast: Patty Duke, Richard Thomas, Sian Barbara Allen, Rosemary Murphy
Year: 1972
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The Movie:
Francesca Kinsolving (Patty Duke) is soon to give birth to a baby sired by her husband, recently killed while serving overseas in Vietnam. Understandably, she's nervous about this she decides to go and visit her mother-in-law (Rosemary Murphy), Mrs. Katharine Kinsolving, who lives out in the middle of nowhere in Minnesota.
Shortly after Francesca, the snow comes in and soon enough, a blizzard has covered the small town in a blanket of the white stuff. This leaves her more or less stuck at Mrs. Kinsolving's home and while under normal circumstances that might not be a big deal, as Francesca soon learns, her mother-in-law isn't exactly normal - and on top of that, she's not even particularly nice, cutting poor Francesca down with some rather acerbic insults and accusing her of possibly carrying a baby belonging to someone other than her son. Complicating matters further her late husband's decidedly troubled cousin, Kenny (Richard Thomas), has escaped from the asylum! Oh, and then there's her sister-in-law, Kathleen (Sian Barbara Allen), who may or may not be just as crazy as everyone else in the home.
And then poor Francesca goes into labor…
Directed by Lamont Johnson, a prolific TV director who also handled quite a few features including the rape/revenge thriller Lipstick, You'll Like My Mother might carry a sanitary looking PG rating on the back of its Blu-ray case but don't let that dissuade you. While it's occasionally talked about as a 'made for TV movie' this was a theatrical feature, even if it was one made on a modest budget with some cast members better known for their work on the boob tube than on the silver screen. And said cast do fine work here. Patty Duke is very good as the lead. She does the 'nervous' thing well but you can't blame her. The character of Francesca clearly has a lot of her mind and the last thing she wants is to be snowed in for the night with a woman she'd hoped would provide some support but who clearly has no intention of doing anything of the sort. Rosemary Murphy plays the bitch-mother well. She gets all the best lines in the movie and seeing her belittle poor, pregnant Francesca is actually a little startling in spots. Richard Thomas and Sian Barbara Allen are also pretty fun to watch in their supporting roles.
Adding further appeal to the film is the location shooting. The Minnesota locations look appropriately destitute once that snow comes in. There's an emptiness the surrounds the mansion that really makes you feel like Francesca is just as stuck out there as the script wants us to believe. The mansion itself is also pretty atmospheric, it's old and shadowy at times but impressive in its scale - this place is big, and it's chock full of weirdos!
Video/Audio/Extras:
You'll Like My Mother debuts on Blu-ray from Shout! Factory in an AVC encoded 1080p presentation framed at 1.85.1 widescreen. For the most part, the transfer is a good one. Some scenes shot a bit of color fading but it sort of works in the context of the movie so maybe it was intentional? Some mild print damage shows up here and there but generally the image is clean while black levels stay solid throughout. Detail is good, definitely well above what DVD would be able to provide, while texture and depth are good here as well. All in all, a very nice transfer.
The English language DTS-HD Mono track is also fine. The track offers clean and easily discernable dialogue with properly balanced throughout. There are no problems with any hiss or distortion and for an older single channel mix, things sound pretty good. Optional English subtitles are provided.
The main extra on the disc is a featurette called The Mystery Of Kenny And Kathleen that clocks in at almost an hour in length. This is primarily made up of interview footage shot with cast members Sian Barbara Allen and Richard Thomas who speak in quite a bit of detail about their experiences working on this picture. This is a surprisingly fascinating piece! Allen talks not only about her romantic involvement with her co-star at the time but about what she tried to bring to the role not just in how she delivered her lines but how she used her body language. Thomas shares similar insight into what he tried to bring to the part, subtle aspects of his performance you might not pick up on if you're seeing the film for the first time. They also talk about working with Lamont Johnson on the film, their feelings on the picture overall and quite a bit more.
A still gallery, a theatrical trailer, menus and chapter selection round out the supplemental package nicely.
The Final Word:
You'll Like My Mother is an underrated thriller. Decent direction keeps the pacing tight and the performances are always solid and frequently impressive. Shout! Factory has done a fine job bringing this unexpectedly engaging film to Blu-ray in fine shape highlighted by an excellent featurette.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
