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Movies / On DVD / Serial Mom
Serial Mom

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Serial Mom (1994)

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63 %
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Reviews Counted:43

Fresh:27

Rotten:16

Average Rating:5.8/10

Runtime: 2 hrs 15 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: Happy homemaker Beverly Sutphin (Kathleen Turner) has a charmed life--a beautiful suburban home, a successful dentist husband (Sam Waterston), and two normal teenagers, Misty (Ricki Lake) and Chip... Happy homemaker Beverly Sutphin (Kathleen Turner) has a charmed life--a beautiful suburban home, a successful dentist husband (Sam Waterston), and two normal teenagers, Misty (Ricki Lake) and Chip (Matthew Lillard). But she also has a good deal of underlying rage waiting to escape....Just be sure to follow her rules: Be polite to your neighbor, always recycle, rewind your videotapes, and never, ever wear white shoes after Labor Day. When one of her son's teachers speaks disparagingly of the boy at a parent-teacher conference, Bev runs the instructor over in the school parking lot. Suddenly she has an insatiable taste for murder. Six homicides later, the cops get wise to her crimes, which are committed with weapons ranging from a leg of lamb to a fireplace poker. A media frenzy ensues, turning an unrepentant Beverly into a media celebrity. A serial-killer comedy mixed with courtroom-drama social satire, the raunchy SERIAL MOM was John Waters's return to R-rated fare after the sweet-natured duo of HAIRSPRAY and CRY-BABY. Suburban life is duly skewered here as the serenity of Beverly's upper-middle-class surroundings are continually sullied by her comedically disturbing acts of violence. Turner appears to relish the opportunity to play such an over-the-top role, and the usual Baltimore-based supporting players make welcome appearances. [More]

Starring: Kathleen Turner, Sam Waterston, Ricki Lake, Matthew Lillard

Starring: Kathleen Turner, Sam Waterston, Ricki Lake, Matthew Lillard, Suzanne Somers, Scott Wesley, Mink Stole

Director: John Waters

Director: John Waters
Screenwriter: John Waters
Producer: John Fiedler, Mark Tarlov
Composer: Basil Poledouris

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Serial Mom

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Well worth a look.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
05/08/08
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An uproariously funny, marvellously malicious performance from Turner.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Rather mild and scattershot in its satiric marksmanship...

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
05/08/08
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Lacks the bite it would need to be subversive, despite a few moments of vintage Waters tastelessness.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
05/08/08
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A loose remake of Female Trouble with Polyester's subversively accessible polish, Serial Mom is the strongest film of the post-midnight-movie chapter of John Waters's career.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
05/06/08
Eric Henderson
Eric Henderson
Slant Magazine

The film may be a bad-boy satirist's mournful acceptance that America has finally become sicker than anything he could dream up.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
09/23/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

This is one of Waters' tamest and most accessible pictures (even played at Cannes Fest!) and one of the few to feature a legit star, Katheleen Thurner, who gives a gusto performance as the middleclass houusewife committed to protect her family.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
12/01/06
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Kathleen Turner should win an Oscar for her demented Mom role...

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/26/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

No review available.

comment Comment
10/10/05
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Not Waters' best by any means, but this irreverant black comedy entertains.

comment Comment
08/18/05
Bill Clark
Bill Clark
FromTheBalcony

No review available.

comment Comment
07/11/05
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com

Madness from John Waters

comment Comment
05/28/05
Michael E. Grost
Michael E. Grost
Classic Film and Television

No review available.

comment Comment
11/10/04
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire

No review available.

comment Comment
10/08/04
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

No review available.

comment Comment
09/16/04
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

No review available.

comment Comment
02/25/04
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

No review available.

comment Comment
01/29/04
Spence D.
Spence D.
IGN Movies

No review available.

comment Comment
01/09/04
Michelle Alexandria
Michelle Alexandria
Eclipse Magazine

[Turner's] efforts fail to make Serial Mom into anything more than merely watchable.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
09/15/03
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Deliciously wicked and deliriously funny, Serial Mom is one of Waters' most accomplished works.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
08/24/03
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
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