A young distraught mother, Lou Jean (Goldie Hawn), breaks her husband out of a pre-release prison camp in Beauford, Texas to help her get her child back from foster care. Her husband, Clovis Poplin (William Atherton), had four months to go and she broke him out. Ugh. I don't know who was dumber: her for breaking him out or him for going along. Anyway, a story such as this would normally tug at the heart strings. Who can't get behind a mother trying to get her baby back?
In this case, I can't.
For me to get behind such a mother I'd have to have some type of reason. Any reason. I had none. Besides her being some young petite blond with an annoying accent there was nothing to establish that unbreakable bond between mother and child. She was thrust upon us from the outset wailing about her baby lost to the system while she served time. I had no reason to feel her pain. I had no reason to get behind her. It was all academic but there was nothing concrete. So, from that vantage point all I saw was an extremely stupid girl with an extremely stupid plan. And it didn't even stop with a stupid plan, she genuinely thought that there was going to be a happy ending to it all. Like, holding a police officer hostage and leading an O.J. style chase through Texas was going to end in her being happily reunited with her child. She had the mind and emotional constitution of a five-year-old.
I suppose it was all supposed to be comedic. I wasn't laughing. I just saw a young, dumb, felonious couple thinking that it was all fun and not once realizing that their actions had real life consequences. But, then again, they were an all-American couple: young, white, southern and the added bonus that she was a nubile blond. Maybe that had good reason to believe they were going to be alright. The state of Texas can't go that hard on them right?
In this case, I can't.
For me to get behind such a mother I'd have to have some type of reason. Any reason. I had none. Besides her being some young petite blond with an annoying accent there was nothing to establish that unbreakable bond between mother and child. She was thrust upon us from the outset wailing about her baby lost to the system while she served time. I had no reason to feel her pain. I had no reason to get behind her. It was all academic but there was nothing concrete. So, from that vantage point all I saw was an extremely stupid girl with an extremely stupid plan. And it didn't even stop with a stupid plan, she genuinely thought that there was going to be a happy ending to it all. Like, holding a police officer hostage and leading an O.J. style chase through Texas was going to end in her being happily reunited with her child. She had the mind and emotional constitution of a five-year-old.
I suppose it was all supposed to be comedic. I wasn't laughing. I just saw a young, dumb, felonious couple thinking that it was all fun and not once realizing that their actions had real life consequences. But, then again, they were an all-American couple: young, white, southern and the added bonus that she was a nubile blond. Maybe that had good reason to believe they were going to be alright. The state of Texas can't go that hard on them right?