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Momma’s Man DVD

Studio: Kino

Jul 22, 2009 Web Exclusive By Brandon Cunningham

It’s refreshing to see a film get made and released that feels very personal and truly independent. Azazel Jacobs’ Momma’s Man achieves both of these qualities for primarily the same reasons: It’s a fairly simple story, told in a reserved manner, of a thirtysomething man named Mike (Matt Boren) who is terrified of the responsibility that comes with marriage and a newborn child. But what makes it effective is the filmmaker cast his own parents (experimental filmmaker Ken Jacobs and Flo Jacobs) to play Mike’s parents and shot the bulk of the film in the New York loft he grew up in. This leads to some very touching moments that have a genuine quality that might be lacking otherwise. And even though the main character becomes hard to like, the movie never does.

The standard definition looks as good as should be expected from a current release of a movie made on a digital format. The Kino release is packed with extras, including an interesting 42-minute featurette also directed by Azazel Jacobs, six deleted scenes, and instead of a commentary, there is a recorded conversation between the filmmaker and his parents that you can play while watching the movie. As an added bonus for fans of Ken Jacobs, the disc includes his excellent 2006 photo-manipulation short film Capitalism: Child Labor with musical accompaniment by the always outstanding Rick Reed. (www.kino.com/mommasman)

Author rating: 8/10

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Average reader rating: 6/10