Let’s not blame Uma Thurman for mistakes made by others.
A film she made called “Motherhood” debuted at Sundance two years ago–and had a tepid response.
A few distributors bit, and Freestyle Releasing thought they’d give it a shot in America. Last October they sent “Motherhood” to theaters and made $90,000. Pheh. That should have been a sign to everyone. “Motherhood” was at best a straight to DVD, made for Lifetime kind of movie. It was not going to attract moviegoers.
Nevertheless, the British distributor decided it had to try the theater route, too. Who knows why? Cooler heads should have prevailed. So they gave it a limited release. And “Motherhood” made about $150 in its only weekend. Tally-ho!
Motherhood is executive produced by John Wells, whose real career is in TV. He knows how to make a hit TV show, which is exactly what “Motherhood” could have been. But Wells is less experienced in feature films. At this past year’s Sundance he brought “Company Men,” a better film with an all-star cast. It was sold to the Weinstein Company and will be released this fall.
As for Uma, it’s not her fault. Actors make movies from available scripts. She’s a two time Oscar nominee with nothing to apologize for. She’s currently filming “Bel Ami” with the inexplicably popular Robert Pattinson. And she’s got “Kill Bill, Pt. 3″ down the road. She’ll be just fine, thanks.
