Bringing Up Bobby

This looks good and sounds good, but unfortunately Bringing Up Bobby doesn’t live up to expectations, for which a number of factors are to blame.

The main factor here is the directing, and indeed, if Famke Janssen’s directorial debut is anything to go by, she had better stick to acting and battling it out with her fellow X-Men! To be fair, if the script is already flawed (despite what the DVD cover wants to makes us believe), there isn’t much one can do with getting the balance right in directing the film.
The story about Ukrainian con artist Olive (Milla Jovovich) who, together with her little son Bobby (Spencer List), comes to the USA to live the American dream is quintessentially a comedy-drama. It’s therefore really important to get the balance right, i.e. not too much comedy or else the drama part won’t be believable, and not too much heavy-handed drama either, as it pushes the comedy aspects into insignificance. Here, the comedy almost borders on slapstick and wild exaggeration, so when the drama bit kicks in, the viewer is left bewildered. The actors probably were too!

Nomadic drifter Olive settles for a conservative backwater in Oklahoma of all places, and tries her darnest best to provide her free-thinking son with a decent upbringing and school education. However, Bobby – just like mom – has a mind of his own, as well as a penchant for juvenile delinquency. Even Olive’s special friend Walt (Rory Cochrane) can’t seem to tame one nor the other. Modelling herself on 1950’s America and its movie stars (both visually and also in speech), Olive is as far removed from the current American climate as can be, though it’s at times difficult to figure out whether she does this by choice, or whether her mind and expectations are simply warped. Also, seeing how she worships 1950’s America, it seems an odd choice to have a Ukrainian version of ‘Proud Mary’ incorporated in the soundtrack, a song which surfaced at the tail end of the 1960’s!

Trouble is a-brewing when it quickly emerges that Bobby just can’t adjust to school life and has a hard time blending in. Much the same goes for momma, who gets nagged by her god-fearing neighbour (another hopelessly exaggerated performance), eager to ensure her son doesn’t continue walking the wrong path. Alas, he does, resulting in an accident which brings us to the attention of filthy rich but amiable businessman Kent (Bill Pullman). Offering his help after he knocked down Bobby with his car, Olive quickly takes advantage and befriends Kent, who in turn introduces her to his wife Mary (Desperate Housewife Marcia Cross). As Olive’s criminal past gradually catches up with her and she’s sentenced to doing time in the slammer, Kent and Mary – whose own child died – step in and provide Bobby with a temporary foster home.

While the film is visually striking (obviously dipped in brightest 50’s Eastmancolor hues), and the cast try the best they can, it really is the direction that lets everything down to a degree that half-way though the film, one doesn’t actually care anymore whether there’s a happy ending or not. Shame!