Movie Review: Stepmom (1998) seen on DVD and Netflix

Drama; not recommended for young children; mature themes, coarse language, medical images, including scenes which depict terminal illness

This movie follows a woman who struggles to come to terms with her ex husband’s new girlfriend who will soon be the stepmom of her children following her cancer diagnosis which is shown to be terminal.

This movie was never one of my favourite ones but up until just recently, it was one that I could at least take or leave despite being very emotional. The movie as a whole imparts the message that sometimes even though you love someone, you cannot expect them to stay single forever should the worst happen to you. This fact becomes harder to deal with when there are small children involved, especially if the person in question is a parent to them whom they respect more than the woman their father is about to marry. This is the case in this movie where the daughter is shown to thoroughly dislike the stepmom while the son can pretty much take or leave her. Throughout the movie, she is shown to have very opposing views than her and is shown not to care if she insults her or over steps her bounds and gets in trouble for saying certain things ETC. I would think the hardest part of this situation is explaining to children that young that their mother is no longer with them anymore but still loves them if the worst does happen as well as having to explain that the stepmom in their lives in permanent in their absence. Though this transition may take a while for some children, they may eventually come to terms with it and accept it. However, this can vary depending on the person. Some people may never get over the loss of someone they love, especially their mother. This applies to me. For the longest time, I’ve told those around me that should my mother die for whatever reason, I will be uncharacteristically unavailable to those around me as I will likely spend my life being depressed to the point that I may never find happiness again. My mother has such a big impact on my life these days that I could not imagine receiving that phone call or text message, (whatever means someone decides to use to convey the message to me that she has passed,) as it may be the last known phone call I could take or text message I could respond to. This would not be the same situation as a celebrity death whom I can just say “oh well, that’s sad,” and be able to move on with my life. If mom meets her end, it will definitely be the end of me. Well, this movie to me explores ways of expressing that fact to young children. It is shown in certain ways such as the mother’s speech towards her young son as she says, “you won’t hear my voice but if you look in your heart, I will be there. I will be in your dreams, ETC. Now this was emotional enough for me when I was old enough to understand the plot of the movie, (I think I watched it once in my childhood with mom where I might have been too young to get emotional over that scene.) However, I saw this movie again a few years back and that scene alone got me to thinking, “I hope mom never has to have this conversation with me,” as well as realizing that it’s not my mother having that conversation with me as the plot of this movie has nothing to do with her. So despite it being emotional throughout, it was something I could handle at that point. However, this all changed earlier this year when mom was diagnosed with cancer herself. Anyone who knows me well enough would imagine that I would be upset, maybe have more anxiety attacks and even break down in tears over the news. To be honest, there was a point in my life where I would get mad and even cry for something as simple as her either not coming home on time from work or missing numerous attempted calls made by me. This was before the whole cancer diagnosis. However, in the period where she was dealing with the surgery to remove it as well as her recovery and her hospitalization, I found myself having hallucinations of the same message that Susan Sarandon’s character was giving to her son in the movie by mom to me and I realized that this movie is not just a movie anymore. It hits way too close to home to be considered anything I would ever think of watching again. Furthermore, I would not be able to handle it if my step father got remarried and I had to put up with her in mom’s place. I would never accept her in my life. I know she would never be as good as mom is and definitely will never take her place. I want to fast forward to present day and say that mom has successfully beat the cancer and has gone back to work which is good news for me. However, the fact that mom nearly met the same fate as Susan Sarandon’s character in this movie is a complete turnoff to me. I know mom would likely joke that she would love to be in the same boat as Susan Sarandon in real life, (with a lot of money and fame,) ETC. Well the fact is that she nearly met her demise in the same manner as Susan Sarandon did in this movie. She may not have the money or fame she has but she had the illness and though it is taken care of now and mom is back at work, the fact remains that it did happen at one point and I cannot forgive this movie for basically hitting me where it hurts. This is a movie that will always hurt to watch as it will always remind me of the horror I went through earlier this year even though in mom’s case, it had a happy ending. In my mind, this movie should be erased forever and never viewed again by anybody. I know I don’t have the power to do that but I have the choice of never watching it again and also I have the choice of what to rate this movie. The results of this movie are very terminal to say the least.

Movie rating: 0 out of 10

Next movie review: TBD although something on Netflix or DVD which I can guarantee would be a lot better than this movie