SERIAL MOM (1994)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
(Original review from 1994)
Of all of John Waters' films, the one that will stand the test of time is the obscene "Pink Flamingos." His later work has not surpassed the original's most indecent acts of nature but Waters has shown he cares to explore family units, albeit in the most outrageous manner. 1988's "Hairspray" was a delightfully funny musical whereas 1990's "Cry Baby" remained the most obscenely awful piece of cinema in many moons. 1994's "Serial Mom" is far better in every respect and it supplies Kathleen Turner's best performance since "The War of the Roses."
Turner plays the title role as a dutiful housewife with two hormonal teenagers (Ricki Lake and Matthew Lillard) and a nerdy, naive husband played by Sam Waterston. It turns out that Mom has a fixation on serial killers and even kills neighbors who get on her nerves! Surely nobody that makes obscene calls deserves to live! When Mom is finally caught by the police, she becomes a celebrity and has a field day in court acting as her own attorney. Her celebrity status is so high that Suzanne Somers considers playing her in a made-for-TV movie!
"Serial Mom" is fitfully funny but not really outrageous. Martin Scorsese's "The King of Comedy" beat it to the punch back in 1983, and what made that film work was that it took itself seriously despite an outrageous concept of a would-be comedian making it big by kidnapping another comedian. There are some big howlers in "Serial Mom" as expected from Waters, especially the sight of Serial Mom skewering a kid with a fireplace poker and removing his dripping liver (a nod to 1963's "Blood Feast"). There are also precious moments where Serial Mom is greeted by fans at a rock concert and great cameos by Patty Hearst (who wears white on Labor Day) and Traci Lords.
"Serial Mom" is not shocking, profane or in bad taste, and this is due partly to John Waters who is no longer interested in ridiculing our tastes in decency and respectability by going through extremes. Society has caught up with Waters and his shock value is gone - how can you compete with the media saturation of attention on such sensational subjects as the Menendez brothers or Nancy Kerrigan.
On the plus side, Kathleen Turner is effectively hilarious as Serial Mom, Ricki Lake is delightful particularly when posing in front of cameramen, and Sam Waterston shows calm in the face of chaos from the media circulating around the strange, murderous behavior of his wife. But the film is far too subdued and toned down and, frankly, rather blah. I guess one just expects Waters to get outrageous and down and dirty. He should be as far from respectability as possible.
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