Movie: Glass House: The Good Mother

This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.

Lucky You

Plot Overview

Housewife Eve Goode (Angie Harmon) does a marching step through her house, cleans it spot­less, then dresses a cat­fish her husband Raymond (Joel Gretsch) caught in the lake. Tragedy strikes their (foster) child David. After a suitable year of mourning, they are ready for another child. Their next foster son is orphan Ethan Snow (Bobby Coleman, 8) who is a “desirable age” making him “easy to place.” The Snows have first dibs on him as they had previous foster care experience and a good home setup. They also take in his almost-16 sister Abby (Jordan Hinson, 14) so as not to break up the family. Teen­agers are harder to place, so she was lucky.

She was also a typical teenager: short on gratitude, long on attitude, even though Eve had given up her nursing career to be a full time mom. When Abby's brother who has never been sickly falls ill, she gets on her foster dad's office computer and discovers a mental disorder called Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSBP.) In this disorder a care giver either makes believe her charge is sick or actually makes him sick in order to care for him. The first kind we saw in the movie “Ma,” but here Ethan really is sick. The Web­site lists a Profile of a MSBP Parent:

• Suspects are usually mothers
• Seem like “good” caretakers but are actually skilled deceivers
• Have health care experience
• Use their victims as objects to satisfy an internal need resulting in permanent damage or DEATH

Suspect should be considered even more dangerous once they believe they are suspected.

Abby believes what she read on the Internet applies to Eve who has been doing all the nurturing things a skilled mother is supposed to do to care for her kid. Kids get sick. Some­times they get injured requiring stitches. My own mom was a registered nurse who tended me in my illnesses with warm tea, bowls of soup, and (ouch!) shots. Here the camera angles/framing and some sinister-sounding back­ground music turn ordinary care Kafkaesque. Both girls are bitches who get into it with each other. Abby gets put on severe lock­down, which doesn't help matters any. As author Michael Connelly has put it: (85)

I could've gone to court to force the issue with my daughter, make a judge order visitation and compel her to stay with me every other week­end and every other Wednes­day, like it used to be. But I knew that would only make things worse. You do that to a sixteen-year-old and you could lose her for­ever. So I let her go and began a waiting game. Waiting and watching from afar. I had to have faith that Hayley would eventually come to realize that the world was not black and white. That it was gray and the gray area was where her father dwelled.

Eve's demeanor does seem iffy at times, but Raymond puts up with it knowing that he will get hot sex as long as Eve is acting out her mother instincts with­out hindrance. Abby learns from her case­worker (Tasha Smith) that she can become Ethan's legal guardian once she turns eighteen. When she's ready for college it will be a time to fish or cut bait.

Ideology

A better way to tell if a care giver has MSBP is if her charge gets better in a hospital but falls sick again at home. But Abby's suggestion, “Take him to a hospital” is met with Eve's, “I can do it all here.” Maybe she can. Ethan doesn't look all that sick, not as bad as that one girl in, “Unplanned.”

Another good way to tell is if the care giver has a pattern of multiple charges falling ill. Here we see it happening to Ethan and to their former foster kid David, but that may just be coincidence. Maybe Abby can discover more evidence if she snoops around some. At any rate the Goodes come across to children's services as near perfect parents.

Abby and Ethan do seem to have an ace in the hole, though. Longtime family friend Ben Koch (Jason London) has promised to come visit them at their new digs. He'd signed off on their placement, so he him­self approved the Goodes. But it's like, (Prov. 18:17) “He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.” Maybe he'd like to verify his judgment. He's an officer with the LAPD. Police­men are such a suspicious lot. Any­thing seems amiss, it's likely he'd follow up.

Production Values

“” (Video 2006) was directed by Steve Antin. Its screen­play was written by Brett Merry­man with characters developed by Wesley Strick. It stars Angie Harmon, Joel Gretsch, Jordan Hinson, Bobby Coleman, and Jason London. Coleman did a superb job of method acting, especially for a child. Hinson the other young actress success­fully played her more complex role. Harmon squeezed a lot of “bad” out of her “good mother” role.

MPAA rated it R for some violence, terrorizing situations involving children, and language. Excellent photog­raphy held sway all the way. Good direction pulled a relatively decent movie out of the hat on a limited budget with compelling time constraints. “Glass House: The Good Mother” was a good product considering it was shot for the video market skipping theater showings.

Review Conclusion w/ Christian Recommendation

Essentially, a blonde and a brunette move inexorably towards a fight to the finish. If that appeals to you, knock your­self out. Sweet child­hood memories should be appreciated if one has them. Not everyone does.

Movie Ratings

Action factor: Well done action scenes. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Well done special effects. Video Occasion: Better than watching TV. Suspense: Don't watch this movie alone. Overall movie rating: Three stars out of five.

Works Cited

Scripture is quoted from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.

Connelly, Michael. The Gods of Guilt. Copyright © 2013 by Hieronymus, Inc. New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2013. First edition. Print.