Mary and Martha
Wealthy American housewife Mary Morgan takes her bullied son George out of school for home education,including a trip to Southern Africa. Whilst in Mozambique George is bitten by a mosquito which crawls through a hole in his net and dies of malaria. After his funeral at home Mary feels a compulsion to return to Africa where she meets English woman Martha O'Connell,whose 24 year old son Ben, a teacher with voluntary service overseas,has also died of malaria. Ben gave his net to one of his pupils,believing adults cannot catch malaria. The two women are shocked to see the high death rate caused by the disease and,whilst Martha stays in Africa as a voluntary helper,Mary petitions the American government to change things. Martha turns up at Mary's house unannounced and,helped by Mary's ex-diplomat father,they address a senate committee on health spending,persuading them to do more to combat malaria. They meet with some success though a coda states that much more can be done.
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- Cast：
- Hilary Swank , Brenda Blethyn , Sam Claflin , Frank Grillo , James Woods , Adam Neill , Stephen Jennings
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Reviews
Good start, but then it gets ruined
A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.
It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.
Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
The premise is not well thought out. I like Hillary Swank but not her character. The film is propaganda for malaria in Africa. We're meant to feel sorry for an American mother (Hillary Swank) who pulls her kid out of school and decides to take him to a third world country so she can consider herself a cool mom. She decides to do this not caring what her husband or her son wants. Which is really selfish and irresponsible. So then her kid gets malaria and dies. When she takes him to the hospital she tells the doctor hes demonstrated symptoms for three days, but she waited until then to rush him to the hospital, because she thought he had the flu. Even know their in Africa where malaria is a big epidemic. Mary (Hillary Swank) demonstrates shes not very intelligent. At the funeral she asks her husband to tell other people not to cry because it bothers her. To a logical person who makes intelligent decisions Mary is a very unlikable character. She left me scratching my head and feeling annoyed. Who ever wrote this script didn't really think this through.
Read the other reviews if interested in plot. The persons involved in creating this film may have had great motivation. The time & talents of Swank & Bletheyn are wasted. The dialogue is lame :"Is you husband cute? I think so." Who says stuff like that?The relationships seem false. The scenes with medical personnel are laughable. The scenery is interesting. I could not watch the entire film- it was aggravating.
It is always sad to watch parents loose their children. Every child is so precious that when a parent looses its own child that parent is finished. It gives that parent a mission in life, which in the most cases is fruitless one, in this film may be it is not so fruitless.I do not believe in the African countries. Most of those states are failed states. They do not have any chance of survival, and people in many of those countries are doomed. It is a real life risk for the white people to go there, my father almost lost his head going to Zaire on business. When Mobutu Sese Seko fled the country they devastated his compound to the ground. The guards and workers, who lived decent lives during those years are now barley surviving. I would never go to Africa unless you want to have a personal tragedy like this one.
This film was truly inspiring. It really changed my view on malaria, and really put into perspective how my life differs to others. Poor children are dying because of this horrible disease, and this film captures the awareness brilliantly. We are truly lucky to have live the lives we live, and this film proves that. I now put myself in others shoes before I react upon occurrences in my own life. Also, it meant a lot to me, because my mum knows "Ben's" mum, in real life. So having the thought in the back of my mind, that this story is true, really strengthens the realism. Yes, it makes it more sad, but all the more inspiring. The film is so well put together, and really thumps you with a whirlwind of emotion and sympathy. A very sad, but brilliant film. A must watch.
