Parents' Guide to The Mother

Jennifer Lopez carries this movie in a physical role that asks her to tumble down hills, face off with wolves, and get hit by cars. But even her fierce prowess -- and unfailing good looks while fighting, chasing, and slaughtering -- can't quite save The Mother from feeling like an amalgam of existing action films. The scenario moves from Indiana to Alaska to Cuba to Afghanistan, and back again, but the exotic locations are ultimately interchangeable because secondary characters or any real local flavor are absent. In that sense, a car chase in Havana (actually shot in Spain) doesn't feel significantly different from a snowmobile chase in Tlingit Bay (actually Canada).

Lopez is the star here, let no viewer imagine otherwise. Her character is hard-edged and unable to emote, which makes for limited dialogue, but Lopez captures her maternal angst in protective actions and meaningful glances. Paez is defiant and often teary-eyed across her. Other actors -- Fiennes, García Bernal, and Hardwick -- appear only briefly and/or get killed off quickly. Expect lots and lots of blood. The sequences explaining the backstory are constructed out of clichés, but they do flesh out motivations. Action-packed and female-driven, with an emotional mother-daughter ending, The Mother will keep your attention at the moment, but it probably won't stay with you long after the end credits roll.