Northwest Film Forum

The latest work from writer/director Azazel Jacob, son of avante garde filmmaker Ken Jacobs, Momma’s Man strikes a chord with anyone who’s ever been anxious about returning to the family nest after years away from home. But what if, once you returned home, you didn’t want to leave? Momma’s Man begins when thirty–something Mikey (Matt Boren) in an existential crisis, returns to his aging parents’ place in New York after deciding not to go home to his wife and small child in Los Angeles. Unsure of what to do next, Mikey is happy to procrastinate at home with his mother, who’s just as happy to have him home. His father, though, sees right through the situation. Jacobs’ story is an intimate one; he cast his own parents and shot the film–wryly comic, sometimes heartbreaking–in their New York apartment where he grew up.

"Everything comes together, somehow, in a very satisfying way. Mikey's friend Dante (Piero Arcilesi) has a musical moment that is one of the funniest, saddest scenes I've seen in a movie all year, and Mikey's attempts to leave his parents' apartment crescendo in a slapsticky moment that feels totally earned." -The Stranger

“This is independent film defined.”– Manohla Dargis, NY Times

“A film of acute perceptions, great sadness and wordless, ecstatic joy, and the one unforgettable narrative film I saw at this year’s festival.”– Andrew O’Hehir, Salon