Main Cast: Sissy Spacek, Anne Bancroft, Ed Berke, Carol Robbins, Jennifer Rosendahl
Release Year: 1986
Country: US
Run Time: 97 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
'Night. Mother was adapted by Marsha Norman from her own harrowing Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Outwardly normal Sissy Spacek calmly informs her mother Anne Bancroft that she's about to commit suicide. Thus the stage is set for a war of nerves between the determined Spacek and the distraught Bancroft, who uses every emotional and psychological device at her disposal to stave off the inevitable. The film's tension grows not from its plot development--we know from the outset how it's going to end--but from whether or not we're going to learn all the reasons for Spacek's decision. She's an epileptic, an alcoholic, and supremely miserable, but she always holds a little something back, prompting the viewer to lean closer to the screen in hopes of ferreting out more answers. In the original play, the outcome was never predictable; perhaps understandably, there are many who prefer the staged 'Night Mother to the screen version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Michael Kenworthy - Kenny Cates; Sari Walker - Agnes Fletcher; Claire Malis - Operator
Credit
John R. Jensen - Art Director, Cheryl Downey - Associate Producer, Wallace Worsley, Jr. - Associate Producer, Robert Blackman - Costume Designer, Tom Moore - Director, Suzanne Pettit - Editor, David Lancaster - Executive Producer, David Shire - Composer (Music Score), Brenda Todd - Makeup, Eric D. Andersen - Camera Operator, Jackson de Govia - Production Designer, Stephen M. Katz - Cinematographer, Wallace Worsley, Jr. - Production Manager, Alan Greisman - Producer, Aaron Spelling - Producer, David Lancaster - Producer, Bonnie Dermer - Set Designer, Beverli Eagan - Set Designer, Marsha Norman - Screenwriter, Marsha Norman - Play Author
