Serial Mom Serial Mom, starring Kathleen Turner and Sam Waterston, is an attempt to parody the ridiculousness of murder and gore in both Hollywood and society in general. It sells itself as a comedy - a fun movie with a lot of laughs. Although Turner does a wonderful job as the innocent housewife/psycho serial killer, the movie lacked humor, substance and plot.

The story centers around Turner, the innocent and naive housewife with an alias personality that cannot stop killing. The first murder is her son's math teacher who Turner runs over with her station wagon because of something he said about her son. Next Turner jabs a poker through a man's back for having a girlfriend other than her daughter. She kills mercilessly and continually when proper etiquette is violated (i.e. not rewinding a video, wearing white shoes after Labor day). The police struggle to find proof that the killings are her doing, and eventually manage to bring her to court. As Hollywood would have it, Turner acts as her own attorney and cons everyone into thinking she is innocent.

If you're interested in watching highly inventive killing scenes in a movie with no plausible ideas, this is the right flick. The movie, however failed in its attempt to create a humorous or even -fun-to-watch atmosphere. On the contrary, it is quite painful to sit through killing after killings: it's just not necessary. Despite a few jokes and laughable conversation, the story flopped and the overall appeal went with it. .



Review by S. P., Weston, MA