mother's day movie review 2016

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Do you like films that are so wildly overstuffed with characters and subplots that the finale requires a child’s life-threatening asthma attack, a karaoke-related injury and a recalcitrant vending machine to bring two characters together at last? Are you okay with movies that feature characters who are unabashedly racist, so long as they are wacky racists? Have you lain awake late at night wondering what Julia Roberts might look like if she happened to be sporting Moe Howard’s hairdo? If so, then “Mother’s Day” may just be the movie for you. If not, you should give the widest berth possible to this staggeringly incompetent blend of silliness and schmaltz—a film so awful that if one were to put up a list of the great films celebrating motherhood, it would rank considerably lower than the Gus van Sant version of “Psycho.”

This is the third film in a row from director Garry Marshall to combine a beloved holiday, multiple storylines, and casts combining large chunks of the current SAG roster, into something resembling a cross between “The Cannonball Run” and an entire season of “Love, American Style.” I must admit to sort of liking the first one, “Valentine’s Day” (2010), if only because I found it impossible to resist any film that included the likes of Jessica Alba , Anne Hathaway, Shirley MacLaine and Taylor Swift . “New Year’s Eve” (2011), on the other hand, was as ghastly and bloated as the day it commemorated and featured an even larger cast of notables (including Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer , Hilary Swank , Katherine Heigl and Jon Bon Jovi ) making fools of themselves. By comparison, “Mother’s Day” dials down the star factor somewhat—a mistake since without the “Hey, isn’t that ... ?” factor to serve as a distraction, it leaves viewers with more time to concentrate on the script. This is not the kind of film where you want to be doing that too much.

This time around, the characters include Sandy (Jennifer Aniston), whose picture-perfect divorce is threatened when her former husband ( Timothy Olyphant ) unexpectedly marries his much-younger girlfriend Tina (Shay Mitchell) and tries to include her in the lives of their two young sons. She is friends with Jessie ( Kate Hudson ) and Gabi ( Sarah Chalke ), who have both moved far away from their trailer trash parents ( Margo Martindale and Robert Pine) and are both keeping secrets from them—Jessie is married to an Indian man named Russell ( Aasif Mandvi ) and has a son with him (named Tanner, yuk yuk yuk) and Gabi is married to a woman ( Cameron Esposito ) and has a son with her as well. Bradley ( Jason Sudeikis ) is the hapless father to two daughters who is still reeling from the death of his wife nearly a year earlier. Meanwhile, Kristin (Britt Robertson) is a young mother who doesn’t want to marry her long-time boyfriend ( Jack Whitehall ), not because he is a bad stand-up comedian but because she has abandonment issues stemming from having been adopted. Finally, Miranda (Julia Roberts) is a host of a home shopping show who has no family to speak of because of her career goals, so there is obviously no way that she could be connected with any of the previously mentioned characters, so put that thought out of your mind right now.

In the past, it has been suggested that Garry Marshall does not make film for the supposedly refined palates of critics—he specializes in broad entertainment for mass audiences who are not necessarily in the mood for subtlety and introspection. This is not necessarily true—besides “Valentine’s Day,” I have enjoyed several of his past films. However, when he goes wrong, he can go spectacularly wrong (as anyone who sat through the inexplicable “Exit to Eden” and “The Other Sister” can attest) and “Mother’s Day” is as wrong as anything that he has ever done. He and the four screenwriters (three of them newcomers and the other the scribe of the deathless “ Monster-in-Law ”) have put their heads together to concoct a script that juggles far too many characters and plot lines. They neglect to include any moments of genuine insight about motherhood, or much of anything else for that matter.

Instead, we get the usual hacky jokes (ranging from the Sudeikis character being embarrassed when the tampons he is buying for his daughter require a price check, to a fat guy nicknamed Tiny) and equally contrived heart-to-heart moments so sitcom-y that you'll be unconsciously reaching for the remote. These jokes are occasionally interrupted by bits so insane that you cannot imagine what the writers were thinking when they were added to the script. In one, we see the lesbian couple showing off a float featuring a giant uterus they built for the upcoming Mother’s Day parade—as it turns out, there is no parade and the whole thing has just been an elaborate setup for a one-liner for a traffic cop played by Larry Miller. (It is the funniest bit, but still a bit of a reach.) In another, the stand-up comic is in a competition but his girlfriend is nowhere to be found and as a result, he has to take their baby on stage with him for his routine—even though he doesn’t actually tell a recognizable joke, he still somehow wins.

Why would so many good actors sign up for a script this dopey? My guess is that they look upon these things as the equivalent of parties where they can make an appearance, have some fun without doing much in the way of heavy lifting and get paid a lot of money in the process. Trust me, they would have been better served if Marshall had just forgone the film entirely and filmed the cast party. None of the actors are able to find a way to rise above the material, instead just plowing through in the broadest manner possible while trying not to look too obviously embarrassed.

This weekend happens to see the wide release of two films that deal with motherhood. One is “ The Meddler ,” the charming movie from Lorene Scafaria , about a recent widow who moves to L.A. to be closer to her daughter and to start a new life for herself. “Mother’s Day” is the other one. The former has a few uneven moments here and there, but it is a generally charming and touching film that features Susan Sarandon ’s best performance in years; it deserves to be seen. The latter is a galling waste for practically everyone involved with it. If you even think about opting for “Mother’s Day” over “The Meddler”—or practically anything else currently playing at the multiplex—then clearly your mother did not raise you right.

Peter Sobczynski

A moderately insightful critic, full-on Swiftie and all-around bon vivant , Peter Sobczynski, in addition to his work at this site, is also a contributor to The Spool and can be heard weekly discussing new Blu-Ray releases on the Movie Madness podcast on the Now Playing network.

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Film credits.

Mother's Day (2016)

Rated PG-13 for language and some suggestive material.

118 minutes

Jennifer Aniston as Sandy

Julia Roberts as Miranda

Kate Hudson as Jesse

Timothy Olyphant as Henry

Jason Sudeikis as Bradley

Sarah Chalke as Gabi

Margo Martindale as Flo

Jon Lovitz as Jackie Burn

Britt Robertson as Kristin

Shay Mitchell as Tina

Jack Whitehall as Zack

Loni Love as Kimberly

Gianna Simone as Val

Cameron Esposito as Max

Aasif Mandvi as Russell

Lucy Walsh as Jody

Sandra Taylor as Lexi

Christine Lakin as Hostess

Garry Marshall
Anya Kochoff
Lily Hollander
Matthew Walker

Cinematographer

Charles Minsky
Bruce Green
Robert Malina
John Debney

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Mother's Day Reviews

They all shine as befits their star status but there's little here worth casting their light on.

Full Review | Jan 6, 2021

The film itself is destined to be one of the year's absolute worst efforts and easily the worst of Marshall's long career.

Full Review | Original Score: 0/4.0 | Sep 17, 2020

This movie is watchable on a Sunday with your mom.

Full Review | May 1, 2020

The thing that prevented it from just totally tanking for me was that the spirit in which it was created and delivered was so earnest... they were just having fun.

We expect more fun from Garry Marshall, one of our favorite directors.

Full Review | Oct 21, 2019

I had high hopes for this move but that soon went away 30 minutes in.

Full Review | Nov 14, 2018

Mother's Day is a feel-good movie and it makes for a good one-time watch.

Full Review | Nov 9, 2018

With previous dreck such as 2010's "Valentine's Day" and 2011's "New Year's Eve" one can imagine what other arbitrary calendar concoction that Marshall can lazily muster up to showcase as a companion piece to his string of hapless holiday treats?

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Nov 9, 2018

Audiences who like a shred of cohesive story telling or characterization, or even a chuckle during a supposed comedy, should stay very far away.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/10 | Aug 30, 2018

There are a couple of nicely barbed lines, but this is a film so syrupy on the whole you may want to keep hold of that empty popcorn bucket lest nausea strikes.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 23, 2018

"Mother's Day's" attempts at being funny miss the target by a long shot and to be blunt, it is downright boring. Saying the film is an underwhelming catastrophe is an understatement.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Aug 23, 2018

[The characters are] all put in such preposterous situations with such confusing timelines that the suspension of disbelief rapidly becomes too much work.

Full Review | Aug 22, 2018

There's drama and humor, but not enough to keep your attention for the two-hour running time. The film meanders aimlessly in the last half hour, attempting to tie up the loose ends.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Aug 22, 2018

It's a tad unfortunate to see Aniston hamming it up to the high heavens, doing what she has been doing in rom-coms since, well, forever.

Full Review | Nov 7, 2017

Apart from the pretty faces and the challenges of raising kids, there's nothing really that would connect with any of us.

Full Review | Oct 31, 2017

No one is actively bad but the film still manages to hit so many jarring notes.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 23, 2017

I recommend Mother's Day to no one, unless you happen to despise your mother and are looking for a passive-aggressive way to communicate your loathing to her.

Full Review | Oct 10, 2017

If you like your films light and bright, without pause for any of the authentically raw emotions that would naturally be associated with any one of these story lines, then go on, take your mum and go see Mother's Day.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 15, 2017

This doesn't come across like the kind of movie anyone would want to take their mothers to as a sign of appreciation for giving birth to them. Enough already, Mr. Marshall.

Full Review | Sep 12, 2017

It's hard to convey what a deeply, deeply cynical film this is.

Full Review | Aug 16, 2017

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Review: ‘Mother’s Day’ Is a Goopy, Glossy Sentimental Mess

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By Glenn Kenny

April 28, 2016

The unofficial conclusion of an unofficial trilogy of holiday-themed multistar comedy vehicles directed by Garry Marshall, “ Mother’s Day ” has its perfunctory heart exactly where any experienced viewer would expect it to be. That is, in a fantasy world where, among other things, one older mother’s lifetime of bigotry can be cured by half an afternoon spent with a mixed-race child.

The major players in this movie of intertwined story lines include Kate Hudson as a daughter and mom addicted to secrets; Jennifer Aniston as a frazzled divorced mom superirritated by her ex, played by Timothy Olyphant (who’s clearly dying to star in a biopic of Billy Bob Thornton); Julia Roberts as a high-powered childless career woman; and Britt Robertson as a young single mom who’s loath to marry her winsome British boyfriend because of her ambivalence about having been adopted. You will guess, immediately, who her mom turns out to be.

The movie, a goopy, glossy mess with 10 times more respect for contrived sentimentality than for film grammar, is bereft of genuinely amusing jokes — Mr. Marshall really had some nerve naming his autobiography “Wake Me When It’s Funny.” Which is not to say the film lacks entertainment value. There’s unusual imagery, in the form of Ms. Roberts’s recycled wig . (Perhaps she had hoped to pass for a Julia Roberts impersonator.) There’s suspense, as when Jason Sudeikis, playing a single dad, sings “The Humpty Dance” for a roomful of children, and you wonder if he’ll make it to the line “I once got busy in a Burger King bathroom.” And there are laughs, albeit inadvertent; the biggest comes courtesy of the production’s no-doubt overworked sound department, when Ms. Robertson utters “I have abandonment issues” without moving her mouth. GLENN KENNY

“Mother’s Day” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned) for language of the sort that your mom may use with you if you take her to see this movie.

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Mother's day, common sense media reviewers.

All-star ensemble comedy's predictable jokes make it stale.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Clear, obvious messages about the power of a mothe

All of the younger women are attentive, loving mom

A father falls and breaks his leg; a boy has a sca

Married couples kiss; a woman wears revealing clot

A few uses of "s--t," "damn,"

Brands/products featured or mentioned include Merc

Adults drink beer and wine.

Positive Messages

Clear, obvious messages about the power of a mother's love -- and how important that role is in your life, whether you're a child or an adult.

Positive Role Models

All of the younger women are attentive, loving moms to their children, but some make questionable decisions about what they tell their own mothers. Russell's mom is funny and helps Jesse's mom come to terms with the fact that their kids are in an intercultural marriage. Some stereotyping of Indian characters (see Language for more).

Violence & Scariness

A father falls and breaks his leg; a boy has a scary panic attack.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Married couples kiss; a woman wears revealing clothes. Innuendo. Jokes about how long it's been since there has been any action. A couple of comments about women's bodies.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

A few uses of "s--t," "damn," and "a--hole," plus one "f--k." A white couple uses the racial slur "towelhead" and jokes about how dark a half-white, half-Indian child's skin is; their daughter mentions she wasn't allowed to date anyone whose skin was "darker than a Frapuccino."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Brands/products featured or mentioned include Mercedes, Cadillac, MacBook, iPhone, Adidas, Samsung, Goose Island, ProFlowers, Radio Flyer, Honda, Pep Boys, and Volvo.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Mother's Day is the third holiday-based movie from director Garry Marshall . With an all-star cast led by Julia Roberts , Jennifer Aniston , and Kate Hudson , the comedy follows several interconnected characters as they deal with motherhood issues. There's infrequent strong language ("s--t," "a--hole," one "f--king") and some racial stereotypes/insensitive comments about Indian characters (like "towelhead" and "darker than a Frapuccino"). There are a few marital kisses and a scantily clad character but no sex scenes, and overall the movie, which promotes strong bonds between mothers and their children, is intended to be a celebration of motherhood. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

Parents say (4)
Kids say (8)

Based on 4 parent reviews

Cuteand funny with a little bad language

What's the story.

MOTHER'S DAY follows a series of Atlanta-area characters who cross paths during the week leading up to the titular holiday. Mom of two Sandy ( Jennifer Aniston ) is so friendly with her ex, Henry ( Timothy Olyphant ), that she thinks he wants to get back together -- but instead he tells her he's eloped with the much younger Tina (Shay Mitchell). Sisters/neighbors Jesse ( Kate Hudson ) and Gabi ( Sarah Chalke ) try to reconcile with their bigoted mother ( Margo Martindale ) after she surprises them with a visit and discovers that one daughter is married to an Indian man and the other is a lesbian stepmother. Meanwhile, young mom Kristin ( Britt Robertson ) keeps refusing marry her baby's loving father because of her abandonment issues over not knowing her biological mother. And widower Bradley ( Jason Sudeikis ) must act as both father and mother to his two girls, while jewelry entrepreneur Miranda ( Julia Roberts ) considers her business her baby.

Is It Any Good?

Director Garry Marshall takes his all-star cast and wastes them in this banal, forgettable holiday-themed comedy. Although there are admittedly a few laughs courtesy of a stand-up comedy contest that's part of the story, much of the movie is eye-rollingly mediocre. Sure, it's momentarily amusing to see Aniston and Sudeikis share the screen again, but most of the jokes are stale or straight-up imitations of other comedies. In one scene, Bradley must suffer the supposed indignity of buying his adolescent daughter tampons and grabs the microphone away from the cashier, trying to double-check the price. Sound familiar? Basically the exact same thing happened in Mr. Mom .

And as talented as the cast is, the script is so obvious and predictable that you can tell what will happen and who will come together (and how) from nearly the very beginning. Probably the only thing worth noting is that character actor Hector Elizondo appears as Miranda's faithful agent. Elizondo is to Marshall what John Ratzenberger is to Pixar; he's been in every one of the director's theatrical releases (remember him and Roberts in Pretty Woman ?). Skip this theatrical release and stream it instead. Since it's so insubstantial, it's the kind of comedy best saved for when you'd really rather multitask.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Mother's Day 's messages about motherhood/mother-child relationships. Who has the healthiest relationship in the movie, and why?

Is the movie making a statement about what makes a "good" or "bad" mother? Do you agree? Can you think of other movies about moms ? How does this one compare?

Two white characters make racist/insensitive comments about a character who's Indian. Is it ever funny to rely on stereotypes for laughs?

Which characters would you consider to be role models ? How do their actions contrast with those of other characters?

This isn't the first holday-centric ensemble comedy; do you think the formula works? What holiday do you think will be next portrayed in this manner?

Movie Details

In theaters : April 29, 2016
On DVD or streaming : August 2, 2016
Cast : Julia Roberts , Kate Hudson , Jennifer Aniston
Director : Garry Marshall
Inclusion Information : Female actors
Studio : Open Road Films
Genre : Comedy
Run time : 118 minutes
MPAA rating : PG-13
MPAA explanation : language and some suggestive material
Last updated : January 1, 2023

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Mother’s Day

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

Director Garry Marshall is a menace. He keeps killing holidays with all-star comedies in which a laugh would die of loneliness. First, Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve got the Marshall treatment. Now Mother’s Day takes the hit from Marhall’s marauders, out to trick a bunch of poor, movie-loving moms to take a chance on this turkey on their special day.

The focus here is on moms living in Atlanta, Georgia and feeling angsty in the lead up to Mother’s Day. First up is Jennifer Aniston , whose natural comic flair is defeated by her role as a mom having a meltdown because her ex-husband (Timothy Olyphant) is marrying a tween. Not really, but Shay Mitchell of Pretty Little Liars looks jailbaity enough to get the point across.

Kate Hudson has it worse in the stereotype department. She and her sister (Sarah Chalke) are keeping their children secret from their racist, homophobic Texas parents. One sister is married to a doctor from India (Asif Mandvi) and the other is living with – yikes! – a woman (Cameron Esposito). Every bigot joke is trotted out and beaten in the service of laughs that never come.

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Jennifer Garner is facing even more dire prospects for Mother’s Day. She’s dead, a soldier killed in Afghanistan, leaving her husband ( Jason Sudeikis ) to pine away while watching home videos of his wife (Garner pushes perky so far you want to scream) and ignoring the effect of his self-pity on his two impressionable daughters. Are you laughing yet?

You will when you see Julia Roberts . Well, not at Roberts exactly, but at the ugly-ass, page-boy wig she is forced to wear in every scene and that makes her look like a female impersonator. Is Roberts repaying Marshall for the star-making role he gave her in Pretty Woman ? If so, he’s asked too much. Roberts is playing a home-shopping guru who has chosen career over motherhood. Or has she? Is there a secret in her past? Is there a cliché in this script that Marshall hasn’t unearthed? I’d say find out for yourself. But I wouldn’t be that mean to anyone on Mother’s Day. Note to Marshall: Keep your mitts off Father’s Day.

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Metacritic reviews

Mother's day.

70 Arizona Republic Randy Cordova Arizona Republic Randy Cordova Perhaps because the bar was set so low, Mother’s Day turns out to be surprisingly watchable.
38 Movie Nation Roger Moore Movie Nation Roger Moore An ensemble holiday comedy packed with all the sappy sentimentality and mawkish manipulation that only the old master, Garry Marshall would dare give it.
38 The Seattle Times Moira Macdonald The Seattle Times Moira Macdonald It’s a lazy movie that fades from memory the instant the credits start to roll; a blandly pretty cog in a studio wheel. Moms deserve better. So do moviegoers.
30 Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten Mother’s Day, the movie, feels as contrived and inauthentic as the holiday itself.
30 The Hollywood Reporter Jon Frosch The Hollywood Reporter Jon Frosch Mother’s Day is bad from the start, and it doesn't get better.
25 Chicago Tribune Katie Walsh Chicago Tribune Katie Walsh Mother's Day is a total mess, but what's truly offensive is that they didn't even try to make this cynical, post-Sunday brunch cash grab even remotely watchable. Your mom deserves so much better this Mother's Day. Go see "The Meddler" instead.
25 Washington Post Jen Chaney Washington Post Jen Chaney Despite an army of appealing actors in its large ensemble cast, the rom-com Mother’s Day is startlingly unappealing. Clumsily edited and culturally tone deaf, it’s more obsessed with the titular holiday than even most mothers would find reasonable.
12 RogerEbert.com Peter Sobczynski RogerEbert.com Peter Sobczynski None of the actors are able to find a way to rise above the material, instead just plowing through in the broadest manner possible while trying not to look too obviously embarrassed.
0 Chicago Sun-Times Richard Roeper Chicago Sun-Times Richard Roeper Nothing could have prepared us for the offensively stupid, shamelessly manipulative, ridiculously predictable and hopelessly dated crapfest that is Mother’s Day.
0 Variety Andrew Barker Variety Andrew Barker Atrociously written, begrudgingly acted, haphazardly assembled and never more backward than when it thinks it’s being progressive.
See all 30 reviews on Metacritic.com
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‘Mother’s Day’ Review: Julia Roberts and Jennifer Aniston Star in One of The Worst Ensemble Comedies Ever Made

David ehrlich.

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After the double whammy of “Valentine’s Day” and “New Year’s Eve,” audiences across the country were all asking the same question: “What can we do to prevent Garry Marshall from making another one of these things?” The answer, it turns out, was “nothing.” We are but simple peons, powerless to stop the completion of the “Pretty Woman” director’s holiday-themed trilogy of terror. Lifeless, ugly, and vaguely evil in its gross attempt to offer something for everyone, “Mother’s Day” doesn’t feel like a movie so much as it does a cinematic adaptation of Walmart.

“Ahh, Mother’s Day” sighs the opening narration, as if the film itself is resigned to the pain it’s about to cause. Set in an alternate-reality Atlanta where there’s only one black person (and she’s pretty much just part of the chorus), Marshall’s latest has all the makings of a dystopian horror movie. Unlike in the previous films, the action here isn’t restricted to the titular holiday — the story begins nearly a week before the BIG DAY and everybody is so anxiously preoccupied with the festivities that it’s hard to tell if they’re preparing for Mother’s Day or the Purge.

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You know the drill: An enormous collection of dull characters, most of whom know each other through tenuous friendships or casual encounters, find love and acceptance in the shadow of a holiday that brings people together. For better or worse, “Mother’s Day” is a more narrowly focused film than its predecessors. Instead of splitting up two hours of screen time between 812 different story lines, this one divvies up the brunt of its duration between four major characters and sprinkles the rest of its ensemble cast on top whenever it needs some sugar.

It might stand to reason that reserving more attention for each character would allow for greater depth and nuance, but nothing in this movie adheres to reason. On the contrary, the less fragmented structure just gives us more time to wallow in the remarkable shallowness of each absurdly facile plot, and wander way too far ahead of where they’re going. These are not characters that can sustain 20 minutes of screen-time — these are characters that can barely sustain their quadrant of the poster.

Jennifer Aniston plays Sandy, a Jennifer Aniston type who’s a happily divorced (and deeply delusional) mother of two. When her roguish ex-husband Henry (Timothy Olyphant) tells her that he wants to talk to her about something important, Sandy assumes that he must want to get back together. Silly Sandy. The opening credits have barely finished, girl — he’s obviously just going to tell you about his jailbait new wife (“Pretty Little Liars” alum Shay Mitchell).

Meanwhile, in another pocket of suburbia, Jesse (Kate Hudson) hasn’t spoken to her hyper-conservative mother (Margo Martindale) in years because she’s afraid to tell her that she married an Indian guy (Aasif Mandvi). Other than “wanting to go Indian,” Jesse’s other characteristics include doing yoga on her lawn and wearing unbuttoned striped shirts. Actually, that’s all of her characteristics — she has two, and that’s both of them. She does, however, have a sister named Gabi (Sarah Chalke), a recently married lesbian who’s scared to come out to her mother for the same reasons that Jesse has stopped talking to her altogether.

Downtown, Miranda ( Julia Roberts ) is a hyper-successful Joy Mangano type who’s hocking her chintzy jewelry on the local equivalent of QVC. Roberts’ performance has a real “We all know that I owe Garry Marshall my star-making role” quality to it.

If you think that all of these stories won’t all somehow come to a head on the second Sunday in May, then you haven’t been paying attention — Judgment Day is nigh. How they each arrive at that final destination makes for a very special journey, as the plotting here is at once both agonizingly predictable and profoundly demented, a rare combination that results from the unique chemistry between the film’s four credited writers (only one of whom — “Monster-in-Law” scribe Anya Kochoff, has ever had their name on another produced script). There isn’t a single line in this movie that sounds as if it was written by a human, but far too few flow with the inbred poetry of “The Room” or “Birdemic” (the dialogue cleaves closer to the “Navajo English” of Godard’s “Film Socialisme”). The movie’s most natural reaction shot belongs to a llama.

In fairness, however, the handful of moments that do transcend into howlingly bad territory are all-timers, topped off by a scene in which Sandy vents to one of the clowns she’s hired for her son’s birthday party. “Mother’s Day” is the rare comedy in which the funniest moments are all unintentional, and hearing Jennifer Aniston sincerely compare a clown’s bottomless hanky to “the bottomless love of a mother for her child” results in the kind of laughter that can’t be engineered.

Several members of the cast seem to recognize that they’re in a hurricane of garbage, but Margo Martindale and Robert Pine — playing Jesse and Gabi’s redneck parents — are the only actors who are interested in having fun with that fact. Trump supporters in everything but name, these yokels have driven their RV straight out of the first draft of an Alexander Payne screenplay, and Pine plays his role with all the subtlety of a Republican primary debate. By the time the movie ends with Earl behind the wheel of an out-of-control RV as it’s being chased by a massive papier mâché vagina, the allusions to this year’s Republican primaries almost make themselves.

The movie has absolutely nothing to say about the challenges or rewards of being, having, or missing a mother. Marshall is 81, and by all accounts a very nice man. If nothing else, it’s clear that everyone on the set of “Mother’s Day” was enjoying their time working with him — for proof, look no further than hilarious bloopers, in which Jennifer Aniston is seen ruining a take by accidentally referring to Julia Roberts’ character as “Julia!” Julia! But that’s her real name! What a gas. “Ahhh, Mother’s Day.”

“Mother’s Day” opens in theaters this Friday.

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‘mr. & mrs. smith’s david fleming says just one word became foundation for series’ musical theme – sound & screen tv, ‘mother’s day’ review: julia roberts & jennifer aniston turn on the smiles, but laughs are light in dated star vehicle.

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'Mother's Day' Trailer: Roberts, Aniston, Hudson & Sudeikis Celebrate Momhood

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I really wanted to like this movie because I do admire everyone involved, so it’s doubly disappointing. Aniston, coming off a career-best performance in Cake, tries to make the best of her role as a divorced mother of two boys (one of whom suffers from asthmatic attacks), who has to deal with ex-hubby’s (Timothy Olyphant) hot new wife (Shay Mitchell) as she ingratiates her way into the broken family. Sudeikis, her co-star in the much better We’re The Millers, is a widower with two girls that she keeps coincidentally running into at inopportune moments. You can guess where that’s going. Hudson and Sarah Chalke play sisters who have been keeping their spouses and kids hidden (for good reason) from their prying parents (Margo Martindale and Robert Pine) who are coming for a visit. The racist, homophobic parental pair soon find they are dealing with Hudson’s hubby, an Indian man (Aasif Mandvi) Pine calls a “towelhead,” and Chalke’s significant other, a woman. You can also guess where that’s heading. Then there is Roberts, forced to wear a wig that made me think she was using this appearance as an audition for the next Three Stooges film. Does she want to be Moe? At any rate, she plays a single home-shopping guru who dispenses products and advice to mothers everywhere without ever having been one herself. Or has she? You can also guess where that is going too.

All of these storylines, including another involving new mom Britt Robertson, switch back and forth, intersecting at various points but not adding up to much of anything to chew on. All might be forgiven if Marshall and his four writers were able to come up with anything mildly amusing for this talented cast to do, but they are all adrift trying to make something, anything, work. Everyone is struggling here. Aniston really gives it the old college try and you can see her years of experience in Friends coming into play, but when the best the writers can dream up is getting your arm stuck trying to retrieve candy from a vending machine, you know you are in trouble.

But this film was not made for critics or cineastes, and no crime was committed here. Marshall, a smart veteran of TV and film, always has the audience in mind first, as he should, and your grandmother just might find this right up her alley. But a Love Boat rerun might even be better. Producers are Brandt Anderson, Howard Burd, Daniel Diamond, Mark DiSalle, Mike Karz and Wayne Allan Rice (among 23 other listed execs with producer in their credited title on IMDb).

Do you plan to see Mother’s Day? Let us know what you think.

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Film Review: ‘Mother’s Day’

Garry Marshall crashes another holiday with this disappointing star-filled dramedy.

By Andrew Barker

Andrew Barker

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'Mother's Day' Review: Garry Marshall Crashes Another Holiday

Like the glowing briefcase in “Pulp Fiction” or the final whispered words of “Lost in Translation,” the ill-fitting Anna Wintour wig worn by Julia Roberts in “Mother’s Day” seems destined to enter the pantheon of great cinematic mysteries. Did some earlier version of the script explain the wig’s presence? Why does no character in the film point out how strange it looks? Did Roberts insist on wearing the wig — a leftover prop from one of her faux films in “Notting Hill” — as a Brando-esque bit of actorly mischief, or does it hold deeper significance? We may never know the answers to these questions, but pondering them provides some welcome distraction while slogging through director Garry Marshall ’s third minor-holiday ensemble comedy, which somehow makes one long for the Hallmark-card half-competence of predecessors “Valentine’s Day” and “New Year’s Eve.” Atrociously written, begrudgingly acted, haphazardly assembled and never more backward than when it thinks it’s being progressive, “Mother’s Day” should at least be able to count on Mother’s Day traffic to boost its box office — or at least it could have, were it not opening 10 days prior.

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After a brief voiceover from a never-seen character (Penny Marshall) about the daily struggles of motherhood, we’re introduced to an unwieldy cast of upper-class moms in the Atlanta area, all of whom share some roughly sketched troubles that come to a head in the week before Mother’s Day. The only one who really scans as a harried matriarch is Sandy ( Jennifer Aniston ), a stressed single-mother of two whose squinty ex-husband (Timothy Olyphant) has just announced his marriage to an airheaded twentysomething (Shay Mitchell).

Sandy commiserates with her constantly-exercising friend Jesse ( Kate Hudson ), who lives next door to her sister Gabi (Sarah Chalke). Both siblings have been keeping their children and spouses secret from their bigoted Texas parents — Jesse’s husband Russell (Aasif Mandvi) is Indian, while Gabi is married to a woman (Cameron Esposito).

Further off in the film’s orbit, Jason Sudeikis takes a straight-man role as Bradley, a physical trainer facing his first Mother’s Day without his dead wife (Jennifer Garner, glimpsed in home movies singing karaoke at a military base), and befuddled by his oldest daughter’s sudden interest in boys and tampons. Elsewhere, Kristin (Britt Robertson) cares for her newborn while tending bar, rejecting the marriage proposals from the baby’s standup comic father (Jack Whitehall) on account of some childhood parental abandonment issues. On the conspicuously childless side of the coin — “Do you have any kids?” “No. Career,” goes a representative exchange — Roberts and her wig play a cheap-jewelry-hawking Home Shopping Network host, roughly as famous in the Atlanta area as Johnny Carson and Oprah combined.

Given the length of time required to simply introduce the cast, one can forgive Marshall and his team of screenwriters for falling back on easy, well-worn conflicts once the narrative wheels finally get moving. Most end predictably — a wedding, a reconciliation, a moment of clarity, a Digital Underground karaoke session — but a few go careening off the rails. Most unwatchable is the plot strand involving Jesse and Gabi’s hayseed parents, who pay their daughters a surprise visit. Riding around in an RV, clad head-to-toe in Stars and Stripes and using chicken wings as toothpicks, the two are such ghastly caricatures that the portrayal almost seems unfair toward racist homophobes. Luckily, they’re cured of their bone-deep bigotry thanks to an accidental Skype session with Russell’s broadly-played Indian mum (Anoush NaVart), who reveals that she too was once as prejudiced as they. Finally, a movie that makes “Crash” look like “Do the Right Thing.”

On that note, when a film is split between a half-dozen protagonists and set in a city that is 51% black, it really doesn’t seem unreasonable to wonder why it couldn’t make room for a woman of color or two among the major characters. (Then again, with roles like these, maybe it’s for the best.) Stranger still is the prevalence of the male gaze in a film about motherhood. No one breastfeeds in “Mother’s Day,” but the camera seems to be angled directly down Aniston’s cleavage in most of her scenes, and one strange sequence sees Hudson spill a glass of water on her shirt just so she can strip down to her bra while changing it. One keeps expecting the mishap to set up some kind of joke, but none arrives — who exactly is this film for?

Save for a few minor ADR issues, the film’s craftsmanship is fine, and production designer Missy Stewart floods the sets with so much floral greenery that the whole movie might as well take place inside a Mother’s Day bouquet. It’s hard to fault the cast, given the scraps they’re forced to feed on, but only Aniston manages to inject any real life into her performance. She even has the film’s best line: Aghast at her ex-husband’s suggestion that their kids spend Mother’s Day with their new stepmom, she shoots back, “You can have Flag Day!” One just hopes that isn’t Marshall’s idea of a sequel.

Reviewed at Real D Screening Room, Beverly Hills, April 25, 2016. MPAA rating: PG-13. Running time: 118 MIN.

Production: An Open Road Films presentation of a Wayne Rice/Gulfstream Pictures production in association with Aperture Media Partners, MayDay Movies, Triad Film Works, Beatnik Films. Produced by Mike Karz, Wayne Rice, Daniel Diamond, Brandt Anderson, Howard Burd, Mark DiSalle. Executive producers, Kevin Frakes, Ankur Rungta, Matthew Hooper, Jared D. Underwood, Danny Mandel, Rodger May, Fred Grimm, Bill Heavener, Scott Lipsky, Leon Corcos, Deborah E. Chausse, William Brindley.
Crew: Directed by Garry Marshall. Screenplay, Anya Kochoff Romano, Matt Walker, Tom Hines, from a story by Lily Hollander, Walker, Hines, Marshall. Camera (color), Charles Minsky; editors, Bruce Green, Robert Malina; music, John Debney; music supervisor, Julianne Jordan; production designer, Missy Stewart; costume designers, Marilyn Vance, Beverley Woods; art director, Paul Kelly; sound, Todd Weaver; supervising sound editor, Kerry Rodman; re-recording mixers, Rodman, Christopher S. Aud; assistant director, David H. Venghaus; casting, Gail Goldberg, Barbara J. McCarthy.
With: Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, Julia Roberts, Jason Sudeikis, Britt Robertson, Timothy Olyphant, Hector Elizondo, Jack Whitehall, Jennifer Garner, Aasif Mandvi, Sarah Chalke, Cameron Esposito, Anoush NaVart, Jon Lovitz

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Mother’s Day (2016)

Genre: Comedy , Drama , Romance

Director: Garry Marshall

Cast: Jennifer Aniston , Jason Sudeikis , Julia Roberts …and more

Writers: Anya Kochoff , Matthew Walker , Tom Hines … and more

Director and master of the romantic “dramedy” Garry Marshall brings us his heart-warming tribute to motherhood, with the help of an ensemble cast, in this tale of generations of very different moms whose lives come together in Atlanta during the lead up to mother’s day.

In a cornucopia of motherhood with moms of every ilk to be found; marshall anchors the film with two of his previous leading ladies, kate hudson as the new mom estranged from judgemental parents and julia roberts as the tv shopping star with no time for family devotion. as well as jennifer aniston as the divorced mother with new maternal competition and jason sudeikis as “mr. mom” struggling as a single dad with two daughters., the ‘mother’s day’ trailer didn’t exactly inspire confidence over the potential quality of this latest garry marshall family comedy, but then the man who brought us ‘pretty woman’ and ‘overboard’ can surely do no great wrong, can he but one quick look at his recent credits, which include ‘new year’s eve’ and ‘valentine’s day’ , are a vivid reminder that he can… and that’s the level we’re dealing with here in the 3rd of his forgettable “special day” trilogy., the “crowd-pleasing” tear-jerker family-friendly aspect of this bore-fest belies the cynical nature of a transparent drama that tugs at no legitimate heartstrings, and a comedy that just ain’t funny. ‘mother’s day’ is little more than a hallmark card of a film with a distinct made-for-tv quality which completely squanders the talents of its actors., the corny and insincere narrative, coupled with the brazen socially opportunistic story and characters, might be digestible if it weren’t for an almost complete absence of any legitimate comedy., only jason sudeikis in his neutered comedic capacity gets close to being funny, and it’s ironic that a film which so panders to political correctness and makes fun of stereotyping in the 21st century, should end up doing just that very thing., it’s hard to believe that the number of writers involved in this cringeworthy and lazy enterprise could create such a poor narrative and collection of characters, but then again it’s probably a clear indication of filmmaking by committee where every underwhelming box has to be ticked., the bottom line…, garry marshall’s latest uninspired comedy/drama is at best moderately entertaining and amusing in very small bursts but certainly not worth the price of admission; rather than a film which makes us want to hug our moms, ‘mother’s day’ makes us want to apologise to them for a film which insults their intelligence and that of the audience..

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Valentine’s day (2010).

Garry Marshall wrangles together an all-star cast for this feelgood rom-com featuring the intersecting lives of disparate L.A. singles & couples and their relationships in the lead up to Valentine’s Day.

Directed by garry marshall and starring julia roberts, bradley cooper and anne hathaway among others., related posts:.

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Review: Mother’s Day (2016)

Mother’s day (2016).

Directed by: Garry Marshall

Premise: A network of families and friends cope with parenthood in the week leading up to Mother’s Day.

What Works: There are many faults to Mother’s Day but the flaws of this movie aren’t the fault of the actors. Everyone is doing what they can with what they’ve been given and a few of the actors are able to elevate the material. In particular, Britt Robertson is effective as a young woman with commitment issues and Jason Sudeikis impresses as a widower raising two daughters. These plotlines have the kernels of stories that could have been expanded into much better movies.

What Doesn’t: Mother’s Day is a part of a larger trend of multi-narrative romantic comedies such as He’s Just Not That Into You , What to Expect When You’re Expecting , and Love the Coopers . Director Garry Marshall has been one of the chief culprits behind this trend, churning out titles such as Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve . With a few exceptions, this niche of motion pictures is terrible but Mother’s Day takes the badness to a whole new level and magnifies the most annoying qualities of these films. For starters, there’s virtually no story despite the fact that the movie features about half a dozen plotlines. A few of the narratives have compelling set ups: Jennifer Aniston plays a divorcee who’s ex-husband has remarried, Kate Hudson and Aasif Mandvi are an interracial couple who must cope with the wife’s racist parents, and Jason Sudeikis is cast as a widower raising two daughters. These aren’t bad ideas for a movie but upon introducing the characters, the filmmakers leap from story to story, establishing other conflicts, then returning to thrust the characters into crisis, only to depart again and conclude the plotline without actually resolving anything. This is beneath even the dregs of sitcom writing. But to add insult to injury, the moviemakers take serious issues and trivialize them. This is a movie about a grieving father, a lonely divorced mother, and an interracial couple who are estranged from their parents. Mother’s Day takes those conflicts and serves them up for cheap, uninspired laughs; every conflict is insultingly simplistic, squeezed for lame jokes, and then resolved in the most idiotic way. Worst is the interracial couple. The parents are trailer trash stereotypes who utter racist and homophobic remarks and the filmmakers clearly think that the older couple is somehow adorable in their bigotry. On a related topic, Mother’s Day is also distressingly white and classist. It’s perfectly fine to tell stories of all white casts or stories about wealthy people or even movies of all white casts playing wealthy characters. But when a film has a scope as wide as Mother’s Day and takes place in Atlanta, which has one of the largest African American populations in the United States, but there’s only two actors of color in the entire movie (and both in minor supporting roles), that’s a far more pernicious case of white washing than other, more criticized titles. There’s also the economic angle to the movie’s failure. This is one of those Hollywood movies that is so out of touch with its own economic privilege that it becomes a first-word-problems picture in which wealthy characters suffer through contrived conflicts. Mother’s Day’s superficiality extends beyond the story and this is a film whose economic calculations are transparent. A movie like this follows as simple boilerplate: adopt a holiday for the title and then cram a bunch of actors into it to capitalize on their marquee value. This isn’t about telling a story. It’s about assembling parts that can be arranged on the one-sheet and cut together for the trailer. The actors aren’t asked to do anything and (assuming they read the script) they must know the movie is a dog. As a result, Mother’s Day comes across as a cynical cash grab by everyone involved.

Bottom Line: Mother’s Day is not to be understood as a piece of art. It’s an industrial product that was conceived around a marketing concept and manufactured to fill an empty slot on a Hollywood studio release slate. The filmmakers haven’t made a piece of entertainment. It doesn’t appear that they even tried. Mother’s Da y is simultaneously lazy and obnoxious.

Episode: #593 (May 8, 2016)

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Movie Review: Mother’s Day (2016)

Frank Ochieng
Movie Reviews
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--> April 29, 2016

Evidently filmmaker Garry Marshall cannot seem to get away from his tediously formulaic playbook of themed movie-making and certainly the tepid and toothless Mother’s Day reinforces this cinematic sentiment. Marshall is determined to exploit these cornball conveyor belt holiday-based movies that shamelessly boast an all-star cast, shallow sentimentality, heavy-handed and forced nuttiness and the gimmickry of trying to serve a safe dish of universal feel-good vibes to suit the varied demographics, particularly the estrogen crowd. With previous dreck such as 2010’s “Valentine’s Day” and 2011’s “ New Year’s Eve ” one can imagine what other arbitrary calendar concoction that Marshall can lazily muster up to showcase as a companion piece to his string of hapless holiday treats? Perhaps “Flag Day” or “Secretary’s Day” might fill the bill for Marshall’s cheesy big screen creativity (or lack thereof)?

Clearly, Marshall has had his day in the sun on the small screen especially during his heyday of conjuring up classic sitcom hits that favorably fueled the ABC Network prime time line-up in the 70’s and 80’s. However, with a couple of exceptions here and there (most notably the popular “Pretty Woman”) Marshall has force fed some mighty stinkers left in his wake that include forgettable fables such as “Raising Helen” and “ Georgia Rule ” that only serves as a reminder in how messy and manipulative a movie-maker he is at large and the hokey handkerchief dud Mother’s Day certainly is the proof in the pudding. If one is considering taking their Mommy Dearest to a viewing of Mother’s Day then might they suggest an alternative gift-giving gesture such as taking good ole’ Mom to watch a mountainside mudslide while sipping a cup of apple juice?

Instinctively, Marshall’s rationale in gathering top-notch talent for his flaccid ensemble romantic comedy is a given as he obviously has to place box office bodies in the seats. In rustling up notable names to represent the so-called motherly squad such as his aforementioned “Pretty Woman” leading lady in Oscar-winner Julia Roberts (did Roberts lose a card game bet?), the ubiquitous Jennifer Aniston (whose track record participating in big screen frivolous fluff bombs persist) and Kate Hudson (who has not had anything solidly eventful on screen since her Oscar-nominated terrific turn 16 years ago in the exceptional Cameron Crowe directed musical nostalgic gem “Almost Famous”) he is merely stacking the deck and throwing pseudo poignant paint on the wall hoping to blindly devise an insightful, emotional picture. Of course there are other secondary mothers thrown in the mawkish mix including the eye-rolling chippy Jennifer Garner (“ Men, Women & Children ”) and veteran character actress in Emmy-winning Margo Martindale (“The Americans” TV series).

Sure, the overall concept of motherhood is burdensome but not so much when it is considered even more difficult trying to digest this draining dramedy. The premise focuses on a selected group of mothers living in Atlanta, Georgia in the shadowy anticipation of the Mother’s Day holiday arrival. These mothers — not to mention their offspring — are acting somewhat panicky as this special day approaches. Naturally, the angst-ridden foundation is put into motion as we discover the caustic and comical dilemmas of each profiled mom-in-waiting-for-holiday.

Sandy (Aniston, “ Horrible Bosses 2 ”) is the disillusioned mom that cannot quite get over the fact that her ex-husband Henry (Timothy Olyphant, “ I Am Number Four ”) has decided to marry his very young honey bunny Tina (Shay Mitchell, “Pretty Little Liars” TV series). Is Henry having a mid-life crisis or is Sandy just plain jealous of his jail-bait lovey-dovey trophy?

Meanwhile, there is a pair of sisters in Jesse and Gabi (Hudson, “ Rock the Kasbah ” and former TV mainstay Sarah Chalke from the classic TV sitcoms “Roseanne” and “Scrubs”) that are worrywarts as they secretly shield their children away from their conservative and bigoted Texan parents. The rational reasoning is because one sister married an Indian physician (Aasif Mandvi, “ The Internship ”) and the other one is living with a woman (Cameron Esposito, “Operator”). The protective mommy siblings with the Lone Star State roots cannot take the risky chance in allowing their narrow-minded folks to take out their intolerant frustrations on their innocent offspring in the name of their personal life choices or their parents’ brand of fear and ignorance.

The pathos is poured on thick involving another mother perishing in Afghanistan just before the Mother’s Day deadline. Sadly, this leaves her husband Bradley (Jason Sudeikis, “ Tumbledown ”) as a widower and single father trying to cope with raising their two young daughters alone while clumsily and comically dealing with their feminine growing pains so foreign to him. Bradley cannot let go of his late wife and wallows in reminiscences of his sweetheart through endless home video screenings. If anything the “Mr. Mom” routine plays out predictably, but there is something rather sweet and revealing as Bradley has to be the symbolic “mother” for his girls needing that maternal replacement in the wake of their military mother’s demise in the act of war.

Finally, Marshall’s “Pretty Woman” muse in star-maker Roberts gets the juiciest revelation (which is not saying much) as Miranda, a home-shopping guru-turned-celebrity sensation who experiences a surprise punch-to-the-face when her past reality catches up with her at one of her signing sessions — she is finally introduced to the daughter she gave up years ago as a teenager (Britt Robertson, “ Tomorrowland ”). Miranda, donning a peculiar, reddish page-boy wig that makes her look like a live-action version of “Peanuts” character Peppermint Pattie with generic chicness, is now supposed to be saddled with last-minute guilt and shame as the obligatory thought-process comes to mind: Was her celebrity-seeking ambitions worth turning her back on the challenge of motherhood?

Marshall leaves no stones unturned in this clichéd confection of sorrow and celebration that is Mother’s Day . The best thing that one could say about the manufactured artistry of Marshall is that he consistently sticks to tacky tactics in churning out star-studded, cookie-cutter comedies laced in lame laughter. It took a handful of screenwriters to develop this trite tribute to the special women that have given us the miracle of life and love. The blatant attempt to market a movie around the festive realm of a holiday spirit so near and dear as Mother’s Day is tellingly uninspired and monotonous. At least Marshall cannot bring about any corrosive creation to the notion of a fetid follow-up “Father’s Day” movie since Billy Crystal and Robin Williams already took care of this yesteryear abomination.

Tagged: daughter , ensemble cast , family , holiday , mother , relationship

Frank Ochieng has been an online movie reviewer for various movie outlets throughout the years before coming on board at CMC. Previously, Frank had been a film critic for The Boston Banner (now The Bay State Banner) urban newspaper and had appeared on Boston's WBZ NewsRadio 1030 AM for an 11-year run as a recurring media commentator/panelist on the "Movie/TV Night" overnight broadcasts. He is a member of the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and the Internet Film Critics Society (IFCS). Frank is a graduate of Suffolk University in the historic section of Boston's Beacon Hill.

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'Movie Review: Mother’s Day (2016)' have 3 comments

April 29, 2016 @ 11:30 pm upside360

Mother’s Day isn’t even a real holiday. Hallmark created it to sell more of their overpriced pieces of construction paper.

April 30, 2016 @ 12:11 am Vince

I for one can’t wait to see what Garry Marshall has in store for Arbor Day.

April 30, 2016 @ 9:09 am Kazoo

These movies make my flesh creep more than a horror flick.

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Mother’s Day Parent Guide

In what appears to be an effort to be politically correct, the script features one of every conceivable motherhood scenario..

This movie follows the storyline of several women, whose paths cross on one Mother's Day. Even though they are all moms, the film is more of a girlfriend flick than an insight into what it means to be a parent.

Release date April 29, 2016

Run Time: 118 minutes

Official Movie Site

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The guide to our grades, parent movie review by donna gustafson.

Garry Marshall is the king of sentimental cinema. His directing talents are behind such movies as Runaway Bride , Pretty Woman (both staring Julia Roberts) and Raising Helen (staring Kate Hudson). Lately he has tried his hand at ensemble casts celebrating holidays ( Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve ). Mother’s Day follows this formula.

In what appears to be an effort to be politically correct, the script features one of every conceivable motherhood scenario. We see married, divorced and unwed mothers, birth, adoptive, and step mothers, gay and straight mothers, a racial minority mother, a bigoted mother, and even a deceased mother. For good measure a career woman and a single dad are also included.

Jennifer Aniston takes the lead as a divorced woman who gets along fairly well with her ex (Timothy Olyphant) – until he announces that he has married his twenty-something girlfriend (Shay Mitchell). Beside feeling some twinges of jealousy, she is having a real challenge trying to share her two boys (Brandon Spink and Caleb Brown) with a barely clad female who wants to be called Mom even though she is closer in age to the kids than she is to her new husband.

Kate Hudson and Sarah Chalke play sisters who have decided lying to their red-neck mother is easier than confessing that one of them has married a man of color (Aasif Mandvi), and the other has a homosexual partner (Cameron Esposito). But their secrets are all revealed when their parents (Margo Martindale and Robert Pine) travel all the way from Texas to Atlanta to surprise their distant daughters with a face-to-face visit.

And Britt Robertson is an unwed mom whose issues of abandonment that stem from being adopted make her too fearful to marry the father of her child (Jack Whitehall).

Meanwhile Jason Sudeikis attempts (with varying degrees of success) to be a mother to his girls (Jessi Case and Ella Anderson) after his wife is killed in military service. And Julia Roberts sparkles as a shopping channel hawker, pretending she has no regrets about pursuing a professional career rather than parenthood.

In between sexual banter and innuendo, a sprinkling of profanities and an extreme sexual expletive, as well as a lot of beer swigging, the plot focuses on these women, who happen to have children, struggling with their personal problems. And that is the production’s fatal flaw. Because the relationship these women have with their children is never really explored, it misses the mark of what it means to be a mom.

Like trying to make a bouquet out of a diversity of flowers, putting all these storylines into one vase doesn’t automatically turn it into a particularly beautiful arrangement—nor does the movie come off smelling as sweet as hoped for.

About author

Donna Gustafson

Mother’s day rating & content info.

Why is Mother’s Day rated PG-13? Mother’s Day is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for language and some suggestive material.

Violence: Comedic depictions include a child being hit in the head with a soccer ball, a man falling from a balcony and a mother dragging her unwilling child onto school bus. References are made to the death of a woman who served in the military. A woman steals candy from a vending machine. A child has a sever asthma attack. Occupants of an RV are in danger when the vehicle losses its brakes.

Sexual Content: Women are seen in scanty attire, including wrapped in a bath towel, a skimpy bikini and sportswear. A woman changes her shirt and is briefly seen in her bra. The script includes frequent sexual references and innuendo. Some sexual sight gags are included. Slang and anatomical terms for body parts are used. Women talk about men and sexual attraction. Female sanitary supplies are mentioned. A gay couple makes a parade float that looks like a womb. Couples cuddle, embrace and kiss. Jokes are made about unwed mothers. Women’s underwear is mentioned and shown. Women pole dance at in an exercise class at a gym. A young child with his pants down is seen from the back—urination is implied.

Language: One sexual expletive in used in a non-sexual context (in the credits, another is bleeped in an outtake). Infrequent scatological slang is used along with frequent mild and moderate profanity, crude slang and terms of deity. Some derogatory racial remarks and slurs are heard.

Alcohol / Drug Use: People are frequently shown drinking beer, sometimes in stressful situations. Alcohol is also drunk with dinner and in pubs. A couple brings their baby into a bar (where they work) and a licensed club. Asthma medication is administered. A man smokes a cigar.

Page last updated July 17, 2017

Mother’s Day Parents' Guide

This movie depicts several different family scenarios, in a light-hearted manner. For instance, we have a husband dealing with the loss of his wife while trying to care for his two daughters. And we have a divorced mother dealing with the re-marriage of her husband, with the associated jealousy and joint custody issues. How realistically does the script address the emotional struggles related to these situations? Whose perspective is shown? Does choosing a comedic approach to these portrayals justly deal with the deeper feelings associated with such life challenges?

One of the characters in the film refuses to marry her boyfriend – even though they have a child together – because of deep rooted fears of abandonment. How might being unwilling to make a commitment actually increase the chances of having the relationship fail? How does her experience as an adopted child increase her worries?

News About "Mother’s Day"

Learn more about the origins of Mother's Day . Note: Director Garry Marshall passed away on July 19, 2016 -- just two weeks before this film released to home video. He was 81 years-old and left behind a long legacy of film and television credits.

The most recent home video release of Mother’s Day movie is August 2, 2016. Here are some details…

Home Video Notes Mother’s Day Release Date: August 2016 Mother’s Day releases to home video (Blu-ray/Digital HD) with the following extra features: - Deleted Scenes with introductions by Garry Marshall - Gag Reel

Mother's Day Movie

Who's Involved:

Jennifer Aniston, Britt Robertson, Timothy Olyphant, Mike Karz, Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson, Kevin Frakes, Jason Sudeikis, Jon Lovitz, Margo Martindale, Wayne Rice, Deborah E. Hause, Garry Marshall, William Bindley, Ankur Rungta, Anya Kochoff-Romano, Lily Hollander, Matt Walker, Jared D. Underwood, Leon Corcos, Matthew Hooper, Danny Mandel, Bill Heavener, Rodger May, Fred Grimm, Scott Lipsky

Release Date:

Friday, April 29, 2016 Nationwide

Plot: What's the story about?

Bringing together Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson and Julia Roberts along with Jason Sudekis, it's a celebration of mothers everywhere. This big-hearted comedy invites us all to enjoy the laughter, tears and love as three generations come together in the week leading up to Mother¹s Day.

official plot version from openroadfilms.com

2.89 / 5 stars ( 18 users)

Poll: Will you see Mother's Day?

Who stars in Mother's Day: Cast List

Julia Roberts

Mirror Mirror, Eat Pray Love

Jennifer Aniston

Just Go With It, Horrible Bosses

Kate Hudson

Me and My Shadow, Marshall

Jason Sudeikis

The Campaign, Horrible Bosses

Britt Robertson ... Kristin

The Delivery Man, Tomorrowland

Timothy Olyphant ... Henry

Terminator Zero: The Animated Series, Rango

Margo Martindale ... Flo

Secretariat, August: Osage County

Jon Lovitz ... Jackie Burn

The Swing Of Things, Casino Jack

Who's making Mother's Day: Crew List

A look at the Mother's Day behind-the-scenes crew and production team. The film's director Garry Marshall last directed New Year's Eve and Georgia Rule .

Garry Marshall

Screenwriters

Anya Kochoff-Romano Lily Hollander Matt Walker

Production Companies

Watch mother's day trailers & videos.

Theatrical Trailer #2

Theatrical Trailer

Production: what we know about mother's day.

The latest star studded ensemble comedy from director Garry Marshall (Pretty Woman, Valentine¹s Day).
Wayne Rice and Mike Karz, who produced VALENTINE’S DAY and NEW YEAR’S EVE, are delighted to be back for another holiday. “We could not be more excited about producing a comedy about Moms directed by Garry Marshall, starring four of the biggest stars on the planet,” said Rice.

Filming Timeline

2016 - February : The film was set to Completed status.

The film will shoot in Atlanta in August.

Mother's Day Release Date: When was the film released?

Mother's Day was a Nationwide release in 2016 on Friday, April 29, 2016 . There were 11 other movies released on the same date, including Ratchet & Clank , Keanu and Green Room .

Mother's Day DVD & Blu-ray Release Date: When was the film released?

Mother's Day was released on DVD & Blu-ray on Tuesday, August 2 , 2016 .

Q&A Asked about Mother's Day

Seen the movie? Rate It!

Follow the Updates

Sun., Jul. 31, 2016 from Amazon
added the US Blu-ray release date of August 2, 2016
added the US DVD release date of August 2, 2016
Mon., May. 2, 2016 from Open Road Films
added photos to the gallery
added a running time of 118 minutes
set the MPAA rating to PG-13 (for language and some suggestive material.)
added Theatrical Trailer #2 to trailers & videos
added a link from facebook.com
added William Bindley as executive producer to credits
added Deborah E. Hause as executive producer to credits

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Mother’s Day

Reviewed by: Joseph Gabriel CONTRIBUTOR


Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience:
Genre:
Length:
Year of Release:
USA Release:

mother and daughter relationships

goodness and righteousness

humility versus pride

women in the Bible

Biblical women with admirable character, include: Mrs. Noah , Mary (mother of Jesus) , Esther , Deborah , and Milcah, daugher of Zelophehad

fornication in the Bible

PURITY —Should I save sex for marriage? Answer

TEMPTATIONS —How can I deal with temptations? Answer

CONSEQUENCES —What are the consequences of sexual immorality? Answer

GAY—What’s wrong with being gay? Answer Homosexual behavior versus the Bible: Are people born gay? Does homosexuality harm anyone? Is it anyone’s business? Are homosexual and heterosexual relationships equally valid?

What about gays needs to change? Answer It may not be what you think.

Read stories about those who have struggled with homosexuality

How important is it to be “Politically Correct”? Answer

THE NEW TOLERANCE—It’s politically correct, but does it hold danger for followers of Christ? Is love the same thing as tolerance? Answer

Featuring	… … … … … … Brandon Spink … Sarah Chalke … Shay Mitchell … Jon Lovitz … Jack Whitehall … Hector Elizondo … Margo Martindale … Ella Anderson … Robert Pine … Sandra Taylor … Aasif Mandvi … Grayson Russell … Gianna Simone … Cameron Esposito … Sean O'Bryan … Jamie Soricelli … Ariana Neal … Nicolette Noble … Loni Love … Caleb Brown … Kate Linder … Patti Schellhaas … Lucy Walsh … Paul Vogt … Jessi Case … Bethany Hartman … Anoush NeVart … Drew Matthews … Tom Hines … Adreana Gonzalez … Richard Molina … Matthew Walker … Donielle Artese … Brittany Belt … Brandi Lewis … Wedil David … Ayden Bivek … Genevieve Joy … Mandy Oakes … Melissa Yu … Natalie Lymor … Jenifer Dillow … Stephen Dean … Rodney Luis Aquino … Kevin Blake … Jas Hardy … Mikaela Gilden … Eric Elijah Rogers … Amanda Smith … Kevin Marshall Pinkney … Shara London … Maiya Boyd … Karah Britton … Dawlish Carmauta … Gabe Grimm …
Director	— “ ” (1999), “ ” (2001), “ ” (2010), “ ” (2011)
Producer
Distributor

“M other’s Day” is the third ensemble holiday comedy from director Gary Marshall following “ Valentine’s Day ” and “ New Year’s Eve ”. Like those flicks, it presents a pretty hefty collection of subplots carried by an all-star cast. Is it good? Is it bad? Well… let’s look at the plot first (or, rather, plots).

Sandy ( Jennifer Aniston ) is a recently divorced mom working to keep her two tween sons happy. Her ex-husband just got married to a much younger (and more attractive) woman, causing her to become intensely insecure about both who her sons prefer and her own age. She’s also desperate to get a job with the highly popular Home Shopping Network star Miranda ( Julia Roberts ), who, of course, has her own issues with motherhood to contend with.

Elsewhere, a young woman named Kristin (Britt Robertson) has had a child with her live-in boyfriend , who is pressuring her into a marriage she doesn’t feel ready for.

Sisters Jesse ( Kate Hudson ) and Gabi (Sarah Chalke) are both contending with the same problem: choosing life partners who they know their parents (a couple of stereotypically judgmental and uneducated Texas bumpkins) won’t approve of. While Jesse is married to an Indian doctor (and is the mother of his child), Gabi has secretly married her lesbian lover and adopted a child with her. When the parents come to visit, troubles arise.

And then we have Bradley ( Jason Sudeikis ). This poor guy lost his wife , a US Marine, a year ago and is now struggling to be a good father to both of his daughters while dealing with the grief of his family’s tragic loss .

That’s quite a lot of subplots for one film… and that’s a huge problem. The movie has a really tough time juggling all of them at once, making it really hard to get invested in any of the characters. The problem is made even worse by the fact that none of the characters in this movie behave like human beings. There were plenty of times where my jaw dropped at ridiculous and/or unrealistic dialog and behavior. And then there’s all the plot conveniences and contrivances. This movie is filled to the brim with contrived situations, in which everything turns out okay and all the puzzle pieces fit perfectly together for obligatory happy endings. To say that suspension of disbelief is required would be an understatement.

The movie tries to tug at your heartstrings with plenty of scenes meant to be either heartwarming, heartbreaking, or emotionally powerful. The problem is that all of these scenes feel too plastic, artificial, and forced to elicit and reaction other than an exasperated sigh. A scene in which a mother tearfully reconnects with her long-lost daughter should have tears welling up in your eyes and a lump in your throat. It had absolutely zero effect on me (and I’ve cried plenty of times during emotional films). I just stared at the screen, stone-faced, wondering why I wasn’t crying my eyes out at such an emotional moment.

The comedy is very lackluster, mostly relying on poor slapstick, embarrassingly over-the-top acting, sexual references, poor sight gags, racism, and stereotypes. This is a two-hour movie, and I never laughed. Not once. I recall only about three very short moments where I chuckled to myself a bit (barely). The rest of the audience was silent for the entire run-time. When your comedy fails to make the audience laugh even once, you know you have a serious failure on your hands.

With such a great cast, it’d be fair to expect some top notch performances. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case here. Not that the acting is particularly bad or anything (for the most part), but it’s nothing special either. These roles could have been played by anybody, making it fairly obvious these A-listers were picked for the names and nothing else.

I wish I could say the movie redeems itself with its lack of offensive content. To do so would be a complete lie.

Sexual Content: Some of the humor does rely on sexual references, wordplay, and sight gags (a scene featuring a school play gives us the sight of a little boy wearing a lion costume with the tail tucked between the legs and pointing forward as an obvious reference to male anatomy). It never gets too bad, but it’s there. Sandy’s ex-husband is shown with his new wife a few times, and the movie makes it clear it wants us to see how “hot” she is. Characters point it out and she’s shown wearing revealing outfits in pretty much every scene she’s in.

Language: Somehow this PG-13 flick manages to sneak in two thunderous f-bombs. Both Jesus’ and God’s names are misused throughout (16 times). Along for the ride are two s-words, about five uses of “d*mn” and “h*ll”, and one each of “as*-**le” and “p***y”.

Drug and Alcohol Use: Alcohol is consumed socially throughout.

Violence: Very little comedic physical violence. We’re good here.

Other Negative Elements

Here’s where things get ugly. This movie opens almost immediately with a thunderous promotion for the LGBT agenda. Literally, the film’s second scene has the film’s two lesbian characters practically preaching down to the audience about how transgenders, homosexuals, and others are all as equally valid for raising children as a heterosexual couple. The scene just drags on, and every scene featuring these two is portrayed in the sweetest, most benevolent way possible. Do I even need to state the Word’s position on this matter? Added to this is the film’s apparent insistence that cohabitation , fornication , and the bearing of children outside of marriage are all perfectly okay.

Jesse and Gabi’s parents are demonized for being conservatives. Granted, their behavior in the film is inexcusable (we should never be hostile or judgmental towards sinners seeing as we’re sinners ourselves), but it’s not just the behavior that the movie condemns. If it were just that, I wouldn’t really have a problem. It’s their beliefs, as well. At one point, Jesse (regarding her parents) talks about how they’re “wrong about so many things,” and they can’t get with the times. It’s not about changing their behavior. It’s about getting them to accept their daughter’s homosexuality as perfectly fine. And, in the end, that’s exactly what they do. And the movie, of course, treats it as a cause for celebration.

We also see some pretty blatant racist humor here. An Indian man is referred to as a “towel-head,” and an Indian woman is told to go “fetch sand.”

Positive Elements

When it comes down to it, “Mother’s Day” is all about how amazing mothers are. The movie honors mothers as selfless, loving, caring, and nurturing. It’s very heartfelt in its depictions, and works to remind us of how being a mother isn’t an easy thing, but certainly a worthwhile one.

It also has a lot to say about the effects of parental abandonment. One of the main characters was abandoned by her mother at a young age and her scars are apparent. “I have abandonment issues,” she says at one point, as an explanation for her personal fears of commitment. We also get a glimpse of both redemption and forgiveness, as a mother reconnects with her abandoned child. Bradley works hard to be an emotional support for his daughters after the tragic loss of their mother.

If this movie were a nice cup of Joe, it wouldn’t need any added sugar. “Mother’s Day” is… sweet. Too sweet. Unbelievably sweet—to the point where it becomes misguided in its efforts to warm moviegoer’s hearts. Unfortunately, this is ultimately its biggest weakness. In its efforts to conform to modern society’s obsession with “progressiveness” and whatnot, it ends up selling its audience some very dangerous messages. It promotes homosexuality , cohabitation , fornication , and the likes thereof in a very cheerful way—all while implying that anyone against such things is a hateful bigot lacking in both heart and education. This simply isn’t the way things work, from a Biblical point of view. It’s just pandering. Salt is added to the open wound by the fact that this simply isn’t a good movie. The pacing is slow, the jokes are bad, the characters are forgettable, and the overall experience is unsatisfying. It’s just a bland, dull, artificial excuse for a comedy—packing some anti-Biblical messages . Save your money on this one.

Violence: Minor / Profanity: Heavy / Sex/Nudity: Moderate

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Celebrate Juneteenth at these Maine events

The holiday is Wednesday, but events start this weekend and run through the end of the month.

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Westbrook Middle School students Bella Zollarcoffer, Priscila Nzolameso and Sarikong Oak held tables educating and informing the community on Black hair history at Westbrook’s Juneteenth celebration last year. Cullen McIntyre/Staff Photographer

Juneteenth, which became both a federal and state holiday in 2021 , celebrates the anniversary of federal troops’ arrival in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, to ensure all enslaved people had been freed. This year, the holiday falls on Wednesday, but celebrations are happening over the next two weeks.

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Indigo Arts Alliance presents The Welcome Table, an intergenerational symposium celebrating global cultural and culinary histories. Activities include art, movement and meditation workshops led by activists and cultural workers. 60 Cove St., Portland. indigoartsalliance.me

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Victoria Mansion is hosting a community day with free admission and a recitation of the Emancipation Proclamation by local actors. 109 Danforth St. Portland. victoriamansion.org

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Space and the Tate House Museum are putting on a Juneteenth community day with free admission and tours of Ashley Page’s “Imagining Freedom” exhibit at the museum. The historical art piece puts viewers into the shoes of an enslaved woman named Bet. 1267 Westbrook St., Portland. space538.org Advertisement

1-6:30 p.m. – The first event of “The City that Carries Us: Pain, Streets, and Heartbeats” will take place at the Public Theatre in Lewiston. The celebration will have a parade and a block party with performances, as well as scheduled activities and rituals throughout the day. It is hosted by the organization Maine Inside Out. 31 Maple St., Lewiston, maineinsideout.org

2-3 p.m. – Through “Poems of Reckoning and Resilience,” the Portland Museum of Art and Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance seek to honor the legacy of Black Americans. Featured poet Nathan McClain will join local poets in the Great Hall at the museum to celebrate Black liberation and creativity. The museum is also offering free admission Saturday through Monday, in celebration of both Juneteenth and Pride Month. 7 Congress Square, Portland. mainewriters.org

11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. – The fifth annual Juneteenth Celebration on House Island in Casco Bay will focus on Black joy, as well as nature, health and economic opportunity. Guests can stay for one or two days, and partake in activities like camping, hiking, yoga and games, all led by BIPOC leaders. Fortland, House Island, Portland. eventbrite.com

4:30-7 p.m. – The Community Organizing Alliance is putting on an event with speakers, live performances, poetry readings, a voter registration drive and catering by Bab’s Table. There will also be opportunities to get involved in the racial justice movement. The Atrium at Bates Mill, 36 Chestnut St., Lewiston. eventbrite.com

1-3 p.m. – Riverbank Park in Westbrook will host a community event with art, poetry, music and guest speakers. There will also be a barbecue picnic, a student fashion show, hair braiding, pick-up soccer and more activities sponsored by the city. 667 Main St., Westbrook. On Facebook.

7-8 p.m. – The Portland Yoga Project is putting on a class called “Liberated Breath: A Juneteenth Yoga Experience” that seeks to reflect on the holiday through yoga. The class is free for BIPOC community members and is sponsored by the Portland Public Library. 7 Bedford St., Portland, allevents.in

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Open access
Published: 19 June 2024

Only 9% of mothers have eight and more ANC visit in 14 sub-saharan African countries; evidence from the most recent DHS 2018–2023: a multilevel analysis

Kaleb Assegid Demissie 1 ,
Melak Jejaw 1 ,
Befikir Gezahegn Wondimu 2 ,
Yekunuamlak Teshome Mersha 3 ,
Eyuale Sitotaw Demsash 4 ,
Samuel Getachew Dessie 5 ,
Asteway Gashaw Teshome 3 ,
Demiss Mulatu Geberu 1 &
Misganaw Guadie Tiruneh 1

BMC Public Health volume 24 , Article number: 1631 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

143 Accesses

Metrics details

The most recent 2018–2023 DHS data set of 14 SSA countries was used a total of 89,489 weighted mothers who gave at list one live birth 3 years preceding the survey were included, a multilevel analysis was conducted. In the bi-variable analysis variables with p-value ≤ 0.20 were included in the multivariable analysis, and in the multivariable analysis, variables with p-value less than ≤ 0.05 were considered to be significant factors associated with having eight and more ANC visits.

The magnitude of having eight and more ANC visits in 14 sub-Saharan African countries was 8.9% (95% CI: 8.76–9.13) ranging from 3.66% (95% CI: 3.54–3.79) in Gabon to 18.92% (95% CI: 18.67–19.17) in Nigeria. The multilevel analysis shows that maternal age (40–44, AOR;2.09, 95%CI: 1.75–2.53), maternal occupational status (AOR;1.14, 95%CI; 1.07–1.22), maternal educational level (secondary and above, AOR;1.26, 95%CI; 1.16–1.38), wealth status(AOR;1.65, 95%CI; 1.50–1.82), media exposure (AOR;1.20, 95%CI; 1.11–1.31), pregnancy intention (AOR;1.12, 95%CI; 1.05–1.20), ever had terminated pregnancy (AOR;1.16 95%CI; 1.07–1.25), timely initiation of first ANC visit (AOR;4.79, 95%CI; 4.49–5.10), empowerment on respondents health care (AOR;1.43, 95%CI; 1.30–1.56), urban place of residence (AOR;1.33, 95%CI; 1.22–1.44) were factors highly influencing the utilization of AN. On the other hand higher birth order (AOR;0.54, 95%CI; 0.53–0.66), not using contraceptive (AOR;0.80, 95%CI; 0.75–0.86) and survey year (AOR;0.47, 95%CI; 0.34–0.65) were factors negatively associated with having eight and more ANC visits.

In the 14 SSA included in this study, there is low adherence to WHO guidelines of eight and more ANC visits. Being educated, having jobs, getting access to media being from rural residence and rich wealth group contribute to having eight and more ANC visits, so we highly recommend policy implementers to advocate this practices.

Peer Review reports

The world health organization’s global health observatory defines maternal mortality as annual number of female deaths, regardless of the period or location of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or caused by pregnancy or its management (aside from accidental or incidental causes) during pregnancy and childbirth or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy [ 1 ]. An estimated 287 000 women worldwide passed away from maternal causes between 2016 and 2020, that works out to about 800 deaths per day or about one every two minutes [ 2 ]. When it comes to the case of Africa significant decline in maternal mortality were seen in every region except the sub-Saharan part. with the south experiencing the biggest drops and the north African region is getting near the UN’s sustainable development goals but the remaining Sub-Saharan Africa are still a long way from meeting the targets [ 3 ]. the global MMR has shown a reduction through the years, a decrease in 34.3% from the past 20 years worldwide [ 2 ].

The likelihood of impoverished women in rural areas receiving quality healthcare is lowest [ 4 ]. This is particularly true for SDG areas like Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia that have comparatively low numbers of professionals in the health care industry. and the presence of a trained midwife, doctor, or nurse is beneficial for 99% of births in the majority of high-income and upper-middle-income countries and only 68% of low-income and 78% of lower-middle-income nations receive assistance from such qualified medical professionals [ 5 , 6 ].

The opportunity for crucial health tasks like illness prevention, screening, diagnosis, as well as health promotion and mainly reduction of maternal mortality is made possible by adequate and timely ANC visit and it is also essential medical tool that lowers the risk of complications from pregnancy, preterm labor, and stillbirths [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ].

According to studies in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) the majority of women more than 80% of them receive at least one ANC visit, only 49.3% receive four to seven visits, and only 11.3% receive eight visits [ 12 ]. In LMICs, the chance of health facility-based delivery and early PNC utilization was considerably raised up by ANC8 + visits [ 13 ]. Hence increasing the frequency of ANC visit will improve health outcomes, provide better pregnancy outcome, reduce maternal mortality and stillbirths, build trust with healthcare providers [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. This in general will increase the existing low ANC attendance. Also since effectiveness of ANC8 + contact has been proven [ 13 ]. countries that are still in ANC4 + should scale-up acceptability of 8-ANC contacts or more, Some countries are adjusting their policies based on recent information that suggests eight or more prenatal care contacts could lower the number of perinatal mortality by up to eight per 1000 births, which would benefit both the mother and the unborn child [ 10 , 18 ].

Different data’s show what factors are associated with ANC visit for example studies conducted in different parts of Africa [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ] showed that maternal educational status, media exposure, wealth status, parity and marital status had association with ANC utilization. Also, other studies conducted in sub-Saharan countries [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ] shows that maternal educational status, maternal occupation, media exposure, access to health care, contraceptive use, pregnancy wanted and place of residence were factors associated with ANC visit.

Despite the presence different studies on ANC utilization in sub-Saharan countries our study aims to address the prevalence and associated factors of ANC utilization in 14 Sub-Saharan countries from two new points of views. One being the data set we used was the most recent form 2018–2023 most of the previous studies used old data sets ranging from 2006 to 2016. And two we used the recent WHO recommendation [ 10 ] of eight and above visits which was launched in 2016 to determine our outcome variable, given the fact that previous studies recommend future researches to consider the new WHO recommendation and also the DHS-7 guideline recommends future survey to adopt this indicator, So this study aims to understand if countries in Sub-Saharan African region have been implementing this new indicator, and what factors in individual and community level affects the outcome.

Method and material

Study area and data source.

The sub-Sahara region is made up of all African nations and territories that are situated entirely or partially south of the Sahara and more than 500 million women’s with almost half of them being in the reproductive age group (15–49) live in this region [ 29 ]. Our study used the most recent Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data of 14 sub-Saharan countries collected using a cross-sectional study design from 2018 to 19 and 2023.

The DHS Cross-sectional surveys were used to gather data from women of reproductive age (15–49 years old) on health and other related topics. by giving an explanation of the study on the DHS official website https://dhsprogram.com/data/available-datasets.cfm permission to use the DHS data was acquired. In the DHS surveys, a two-stage stratified sampling method was used to select the sample. Every nation was split up into groups. Enumeration areas (EAs) were chosen for each cluster in the first stage, and a household listing exercise was carried out in each of the chosen EAs. The households on the list served as the foundation for choosing the households and households from each enumeration area were chosen for the second stage. Women between the ages of 15 and 49 who were defacto in each chosen home were chosen and interviews were conducted in person by the fieldworkers. In our study a total of 89,489 weighted women who gave birth in the last three years preceding the surveys were included. Number of women per country and survey year are shown in (Table 1 ).

Dependent variable

Outcome variable in this study is antenatal care utilization which was measured as not utilized and utilized, and respondents who visited ANC service < 8 times were categorized as not utilized and those who visited ANC service > or = 8 times were categorized as utilized this classification was based on the new WHO recommendation [ 10 ].

Independent variables

Individual level variables such as maternal age (15–19, 20–24, 25–29, 30–34, 35–39, 40–44, 45–49), maternal educational status (No education, primary, secondary and above), marital status (Not married, married/living with a partner), wealth index (Poor, middle, rich), media exposure (No, yes), respondents’ occupational status (Not working, working), pregnancy intension (intended, un-intended), contraceptive use (user, not user), ever had terminated pregnancy (yes, no), access to health care (no problem, problem) decision on respondents health care (Alone, both, husband alone, others) timely initiation of ANC visit and birth order (1, 2–4, + 5) and community level variables such as place of residence (urban, rural), community level education (yes, no), community level wealth status (yes, no), community level media exposure (yes, no) and Survey year (2018–2020 and 2021–2023) community level variables like community level education, community level wealth status and community level media exposure were created from the individual variables using proportion by adding the individual-level variables in to clusters.

Data analysis

Stata version-17 software was used for analysis, descriptive statistics was conducted using cross tabulation and by calculating frequency and percentage to show how individual and community level characteristics were distributed and a multilevel binary logistics regression was used to assess if individual and community level factors affect ANC utilization. In the bi-variable regression analysis, variables with a p-value ≤ 0.2 were considered in the multivariable analysis and the Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with a 95% Confidence Interval (CI) at p-value < 0.05 in the multivariable multilevel analysis was used to declare statistical significance. For the data to be representative and to account the probability of unequal selection between clusters both descriptive and analytic analysis were carried out after the weighting of data using individual weights for women (v005) then we generated individual weight by dividing to 100,000. And since the nature of the DHS data is hierarchical meaning there are some variables snuggled within other variables. In order to consider between cluster variability, we created four models the null model with only the dependent variable, model 1 which includes the dependent variable and individual-level variables, model two which includes the dependent variable with the community level variables and model for the dependent variable with both the individual and community level variables. To assess the presence of clustering and to check the appropriateness of multilevel logistic regression we calculated Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC), proportional change in variance (PCV) and median odds ratio (MOR). The ICC in the empty model is 28.3% which is greater than 5% this indicates that 28.6% of the variability in ANC utilization is explained by between-Clusters differences and 71.7% of the variability is explained by within Clusters. The best fit model was selected by comparing the Akaike Information Criteria (AIC) and Deviance (-2LLH) so the model with lowest Akaike Information Criteria (AIC) and smallest Deviance were selected.

ICC and AIC were calculated by using the Stata command “ estat icc ” and “ estat ic ” respectively after running the “ melogit command ” for each model.

PCV were calculated for each model, PCV= (V null −V M1/M2/M3 /V null ) *100 .

Vnull = the variance in the Null model, VM1 = variance in Model one, VM2 = variance in Model two, VM3 = variance in Model three.

MOR was calculated for each model = exp(0.95√VA) .

Individual level factors

A total of 89,489 mothers who gave birth in the past three years before the survey and who attend ANC visits for their last pregnancy were included in the study, 23,500 (26.26%) were aged between 20 and 29 age group, around 85.90% (76,870) respondents were either married or living with a partner. 33,638 (37.59%) of them have finished secondary school, 61,669 (68.91%) of the respondents have exposure to media, 29,140 (32.56%) of respondents were Muslims, majority of the respondents 39,068 were from the poor wealth group, 60.82% (54,424) respondents are currently working, 74.71% (66,857) of the pregnancies were intended. 60,091 or (67.15%) of mothers are not contraceptive users, 86.04% of mother had never had a terminated pregnancy, 60.91% of the respondents believed there is no problem in access to health care, 36,883 (41.21%) of respondent’s health care decision were done by the husband only, 57.56% or 46,984 of the respondents had a delayed first ANC visit (Table 2 ).

Community level factors

From the study participants 54,611 (59.91%) of the mothers were from rural area, almost half of the respondents 51.96% were from a community that has high proportion of people being highly educated, 52.6% of women were from communities with high proportion of media exposure (Table 3 ).

Prevalence of ANC utilization in 14 SSA countries

The overall prevalence of eight and more ANC visits in 14 SSA countries was 8.9% (95% CI: 8.76–9.13) ranging from 3.66% (95% CI: 3.54–3.79) in Gabon to 18.92% (95% CI: 18.67–19.17) in Nigeria.

Random effects

The null model illustrated a variation in the likelihood of eight and more ANC visits in sub–Saharan African countries between clusters indicating that 28.3% of the variation in eight and more ANC visits in 14 SSA was attributed to Intra-Class Correlation variation (ICC = 0.283). for the individual level variables only in model 1 the between-cluster variation dropped to 25.6% (ICC = 0.256) and in the community-level variables which is model 2, the ICC decreased to 23% (ICC = 0.23). In contrast, in the third model which contains both the individual and community level variables the ICC, further decreased to 18.5% (ICC = 0.185). Moreover, the final model had the lowest MOR value (2.26) indicating that the odds of eight and more ANC visit was 2.26 times higher when we move from low ANC visit areas to higher areas. Also, as the PCV indicates for the last model that is model 3 (PCV = 0.43) 43.0% of the variation in eight or more ANC visit across clusters was explained by both individual and community-level factors. Again, the last model (Model 3) has the lowest (36,852.54) deviance and lowest (36,944.54) AIC. So, model 3 was used to identify factors associated with eight and more ANC visits in 14 SSA. (Table 4 )

Individual and community level factors associated with eight and more ANV visits

Model 1 (individual level factors only).

In the model accounted for individual level variables only (model 1), maternal age, maternal occupational status, maternal educational level, wealth status, media exposure, pregnancy intention, ever had terminated pregnancy, timely initiation of first ANC visit, empowerment on respondents’ health care, access to health care, and birth order. Were variables associated with eight and more ANC visit (Table 5 ).

Model 2 (Community level factors only)

Where as in the model accounted for community level variables only, place of residence, community level education, community level media exposure and survey year were factors associated with eight and more ANC visit (Table 5 ).

Model 3 (Individual and community level factors)

In the Final model containing both individual and community level factors (model 3) maternal age, maternal occupational status, maternal educational level, wealth status, media exposure, pregnancy intention, ever had terminated pregnancy, timely initiation of first ANC visit, empowerment on respondents’ health care, and birth order, place of residence, community level education, community level media exposure and survey year were factors associated with eight and more ANC visit.

The odds of having eight and more ANC visit was 1.27 (AOR = 1.27; 95% CI: 1.10–1.46), 1.61 (AOR = 1.61; 95% CI: 1.39–1.87), 1.76 (AOR = 1.76; 95% CI: 1.51–2.07), 2.09 (AOR = 2.09; 95% CI: 1.74–2.53) and 1.75(AOR = 1.75; 95% CI: 1.31–2.32) times higher among respondents aged 25–29, 30–34, 35–39, 40–44, and 45–49 years respectively when compared to women aged 15–24 years, The odd of having eight and more ANC visit timely initiation of ANC was 1.20 (AOR = 1.20; 95% CI: 1.09–1.32) and 1.26 (AOR = 1.26; 95% CI: 1.16–1.38) times higher in mothers who had primary and secondary education respectively as compared to those mothers who had no formal education. Women in the middle and richest wealth categories had 1.17 (AOR = 1.17; 95% CI: 1.07–1.28) and 1.65 (AOR = 1.65; 95% CI: 1.50–1.82) higher odds of eight and more ANC visit respectively when compared to the poor women. When it comes to media exposure respondents who has exposure to media has a higher odd of having eight and more ANC visit than those with no media exposure 1.20 (AOR = 1.20; 95% CI: 1.11–1.31). Mothers whose last pregnancy was intended had 1.12 (AOR = 1.12; 95% CI: 1.05–1.20) higher odds of having eight or more ANC visit when compared to who has unintended pregnancy. There is a higher odd of eight and more ANC visit among women who had terminated pregnancy 1.16 (AOR = 1.16; 95% CI: 1.07–1.22) than those with no history of termination. Additionally, the odds of having eight or more ANC visit were 20% (AOR = 0.80; 95% CI: 0.75–0.86) lower for mothers who are not contraceptive users compared to contraceptive user women. Also, the odds of having eight or more ANC visit were 16% (AOR = 0.84; 95%CI: 0.78–0.91) and 41% (AOR = 0.59; 95% CI: 0.53–0.66) lower among women with birth order of between two-four and five and greater than five respectively compare to those women with only one birth order. When it comes to timely initiation of first ANC visit, mothers with timely initiation had 4.79 (AOR = 4.79; 95% CI: 4.49–5.10) times higher odds of having eight or more ANC visit than mothers with delayed initiation. The odds of having eight or more ANC visit were higher among respondents who make their health care decision Alone 1.43 (AOR = 1.43; 95% CI: 1.30–1.56) and with their husbands together 1.28 (AOR = 1.28; 95% CI: 1.19–1.38) compared to respondents whose health care decision was made by their husband alone. A woman who was living in the urban area had 1.33 (AOR = 1.33; 95%CI: 1.22–1.44) higher odds of eight and more ANC visit as compared with a woman who was living in rural areas. Furthermore, women from highly educated communities and communities with high media exposure had higher odds 1.57 (AOR = 1.57; 95% CI: 1.35–1.84) and 1.70 (AOR = 1.70; 95% CI: 1.45–1.98) respectively compared with the counter parts. In addition, respondents who were surveyed from 2021 to 2023 had 57% (AOR = 0.47, 95% CI: (0.34–0.65), lower odds of having eight or more ANC visits compared to women surveyed from 2018 to 2020 (Table 5 ).

In order to avoid maternal and newborn mortality ANC utilization/visit has a great deal of worth, our study aimed to understand if the new WHO recommendation had been adapted and to analyze individual and community level factors influencing eight and more ANC visits, among women of reproductive age 15–49 years in 14 Sub-Saharan African countries using the most recent DHS data set from 2018 to 2023.

Our study showed that only 8.9% (95% CI: 8.76–9.13 ) of women aged (14–49) had eight and more ANV visit. Ranging from 3.66% (95% CI: 3.54–3.79) in Gabon to 18.92% (95% CI: 18.67–19.17) in Nigeria. Previous study [ 30 ] conducted in sub-Saharan African countries showed a 58.53% ANC utilization, this difference might be mainly due to this study used Four and above ANC visits to consider as ANC utilized, while our study used WHOs eight and above recommendation. but our finding is almost similar with the study conducted also in sub-Saharan African countries which shows 6.8% of respondents had eight and more visits [ 25 ]. This shows that even though previous studies [ 25 ] recommend to develop, adapt and execute new and improved programs and policies to achieve WHOs recent recommendation, countries are not applying the new recommendation of eight and more ANC visits.

Based on the finding of our study there is a strong correlation between a woman’s age and her ability to receive appropriate ANC service, the result showed that a woman is more likely to use prenatal care appropriately the older she gets, this suggest that, in comparison to older women, young women most likely lack experience with pregnancy care. This finding is in line with other studies [ 31 , 32 , 33 ]. This could be explained by the fact that women who became pregnant earlier had more life experience and knowledge of the advantages of going to medical facilities.

Our study showed that education levels were significantly associated with eight and more ANC visits among reproductive aged women. Higher education levels associated with higher number of ANC visits this finding agrees with previous studies [ 23 , 25 , 27 , 30 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ] possible explanation might be that educated women will be more aware of the benefits of ANC visits. Additionally, educated women are more likely to be exposed to information regarding maternal health. So, increasing women’s education, household income, and ability to make decisions results in higher Utilization of maternity healthcare services.

This study showed that women with better wealth status (middle, rich) had higher number of antenatal care visit compared to poor wealth index. The observation that poorest women having lower number of ANV visits are supported by some previous studies [ 27 , 38 , 39 , 40 ]. This can be explained by since mothers who have higher incomes may be able to afford the costs of health services, including transportation, prescription drugs so they may attend ANV visit regularly, but those women from poor wealth status attend ANC clinics occasionally or never attend the clinics at all.

This study showed that women who were exposed to mass media had a higher likelihood of using the recommended ANC utilization of eight and more than women who were not. This may be the result of the mass media’s ability to inform large audiences at once and also helps in changing perspectives regarding maternal health services and their benefits, this finding is supported by other studies as well [ 7 , 41 , 42 ].

Regarding occupation result of our study reviled that women how have jobs were more likely to have eight and more ANV visits compared to mother with no job, this could be the case because well-paid and employed women do not have financial barrier to ANC services, and also increases their decision-making power. Other studies also agree with this finding [ 25 , 43 , 44 ].

When it comes to women with planed pregnancy, the result of this paper shows that they had a higher chance of having eight and more ANC visit than women with unintended pregnancies this result is consistent with similar other studies [ 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 ]. It goes without saying that if a woman wanted the pregnancy, she would be more willing to seek medical attention, and on the way if there is an early pregnancy diagnosis this would encourage them for early ANC booking and raise the number of ANC visits. This again also implies that, women’s usage of ANC services may have been adversely affected by the lack of a pregnant mindset, which is typical in unplanned or unexpected pregnancies.

Women who had timely initiation of first ANC visit had a higher chance of completing the recommended eight and more ANC visits than those with delayed first initiation, reason for this might be if women start their first visit within 12 weeks of pregnancy, they have higher possibility of attending eight and more ANC visits before they gave birth.

Different from other Studie [ 49 ]. conducted another factor associated with eight and more ANC visit was those women who had terminated pregnancy, main and clear reason may be since previous pregnancy terminations may be linked to specific risk factors or health issues that need to be closely watched during subsequent pregnancies women who experience this condition before will have frequent ANC to prevent and control these risks.

In this study consistent with other studies [ 50 , 51 ]. women who were not current contraceptive users were less likely to have frequent ANC visits than who use family planning, reason might be, it is believed that family planning users have the idea and knowledge about importance of family planning methods, family planning counselling and also importance of ANC visits,

Birth order was another factor associated with eight and more visit, this may be due to the fact that limiting the number of births can both improve maternal health and the use of maternal health services [ 30 ]. This result is similar with other findings [ 52 ] but other studies showed that birth order was negatively associated with eight or more ANC visits [ 25 ]. This difference might be due the time or year of the survey.

Women who had a power to decide about their health care by themselves and with their husband had a higher chance of having eight and more ANC visit than those women whose decision is made for them by their husband alone. This may be due to the fact that using their autonomy women can make decisions about getting healthcare for themselves. Similar studies also showed similar finding [ 39 , 53 , 54 , 55 ].

Another factor influencing the use of eight and more ANC visit like previous studies [ 19 , 38 , 56 , 57 ] is residence. In comparison to rural areas, the rate of having eight and more ANC visit is higher in urban areas. This might be due to urban areas have a greater concentration of infrastructure like health facilities, which cannot be easily available in rural areas. so, this makes it possible for women living in cities to have frequent access to healthcare. Also in addition, like women who have higher education, jobs, and who have access to media women in urban areas have greater access to health-related information than do women in rural areas.

In the 14 SSA included in this study, there is low adherence to WHO guidelines of eight and more ANC visits. We highly recommended that programs working to increase maternal and child health should improve or may be change their current policies and create new ones in order to achieve the using of WHO-recommended minimum of eight ANC interactions. Also educating women, increasing benefit of prenatal care through mass media and empowering women should be the main focus areas of policies and programs regarding maternal and child health.

Strength and limitation

Our study used the most recent 2018–2023 DHS data set for the analysis to determine if countries have been implementing the WHOs new indicator eight and more ANC visit and also the study’s conclusions are corroborated by extensive data sets that encompass 14 SSA nations. However, it is impossible to infer a cause-and-effect relationship between the independent and dependent variables because of the cross-sectional nature of the study, and also since this study did not assess the spatial distribution analysis, we couldn’t identify the hot spot areas recommend future researches to identify hotspot area.

Data availability

The datasets generated during the study are publicly available from the DHS official website https://dhsprogram.com/data/available-datasets.cfm .

Abbreviations

Antenatal care

Adjusted odds ratio

Demographic health survey

Intra class correlation

Median odds ratio

Proportional change variance

Log likelihood ratio

Sub-Saharan Africa

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank measure DHS for granting us permission to download, use, analyze the DHS data set.

No funding was received for this study.

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Department of Health Systems and Policy, Institute of Public Health, Collage of Medicine and Health Science, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia

Kaleb Assegid Demissie, Melak Jejaw, Demiss Mulatu Geberu & Misganaw Guadie Tiruneh

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Collage of Medicine and Health Science, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia

Befikir Gezahegn Wondimu

Department of Anatomic Pathology, Collage of Medicine and Health Science, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia

Yekunuamlak Teshome Mersha & Asteway Gashaw Teshome

Department of Surgery, Collage of Medicine and Health Science, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia

Eyuale Sitotaw Demsash

Department of Internal Medicine, Collage of Medicine and Health Science, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia

Samuel Getachew Dessie

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Contributions

K.A.D conceptualized the study, reviews literature, involved in methodology and carried out the analysis, interpret the results, and prepared the manuscript. MJ, BGW, YTM, ESD, SGD, AGT DMG, and MGT were also involved in methodology, formal analysis, and interpretation of the data and MGT was involved in methodology, analysis and interpretation of the data and revised the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kaleb Assegid Demissie .

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Ethics approval and consent to participate.

This study used a secondary data analysis of the DHS. In this study, the Macro International Institutional Review Board in Calverton, United States of America, as well as the National Ethical Review Committees in Burkina Faso, Cameron, Coat’ d’Ivoire, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone, approved the surveys. Prior to participation, each participant gave their informed consent, and all information was gathered in a private way. MEASURE DHS gave us written permission and raw survey data for use. The dataset was kept private and was not shared or given to any other organizations. This research is not an experiment. Every procedure was carried out in compliance with the Helsinki declarations. More details regarding DHS data and ethical standards are available online at ( http://www.dhsprogram.com ).

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Demissie, K.A., Jejaw, M., Wondimu, B.G. et al. Only 9% of mothers have eight and more ANC visit in 14 sub-saharan African countries; evidence from the most recent DHS 2018–2023: a multilevel analysis. BMC Public Health 24 , 1631 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-19145-x

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PG-13. 1h 58m. By Glenn Kenny. April 28, 2016. The unofficial conclusion of an unofficial trilogy of holiday-themed multistar comedy vehicles directed by Garry Marshall, " Mother's Day " has ...
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Our review: Parents say ( 4 ): Kids say ( 8 ): Director Garry Marshall takes his all-star cast and wastes them in this banal, forgettable holiday-themed comedy. Although there are admittedly a few laughs courtesy of a stand-up comedy contest that's part of the story, much of the movie is eye-rollingly mediocre.
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'MOTHER'S DAY': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five) The last film of director Gary Marshall's career (before he passed away in July 2016), is another cheesy 'holiday themed' ensemble romcom (much like his previous two movies 'VALENTINE'S DAY' and 'NEWYEAR'S EVE'). This film revolves around the lives of multiple different mothers (and a single father), with intersecting stories, all set on the ...
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Poo-Review Ratings. Stay Away Don't Bother Seen Better Not Bad See It. Evidently filmmaker Garry Marshall cannot seem to get away from his tediously formulaic playbook of themed movie-making and certainly the tepid and toothless Mother's Day reinforces this cinematic sentiment. Marshall is determined to exploit these cornball conveyor belt ...
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The most recent home video release of Mother's Day movie is August 2, 2016. Here are some details… Home Video Notes Mother's Day Release Date: August 2016 Mother's Day releases to home video (Blu-ray/Digital HD) with the following extra features: - Deleted Scenes with introductions by Garry Marshall - Gag Reel
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Bringing together Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson and Julia Roberts along with Jason Sudekis, it's a celebration of mothers everywhere. This big-hearted comedy invites us all to enjoy the laughter, tears and love as three generations come together in the week leading up to Mother¹s Day. official plot version from openroadfilms.com.
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