A moving 'Mother'

"Mother and Child" is a cinematic tonic for anyone tired of the familiar and predictable.

Rodrigo Garcia's ensemble look at the psychological ramifications of adoption is sinuous and surprising - weird, even - and thanks to an unbelievably good cast, credible and moving more often than not.

"M&C" breaks down as the interlocking stories of three women for whom adoption has left profoundly deep imprints on their adult psyches.

Annette Bening is Karen, an officious nurse who, in middle age, still has nightmares about the teen pregnancy that ended with her giving up a baby, the only one she ever conceived, for adoption.

That girl grows up to be Liz (Naomi Watts), a ruthless attorney whose dual needs, for control and for reassurance that she's desirable, are easily read as outgrowths of her adoptive history.

Then there's Kerry Washington as an infertile, baby-mad young wife whose powerful desire to conceive comes from incredible (often tactless) pressure from her husband and his family.

Much of what draws the viewer to "Mother and Child" is the irresistible, if sentimental, narrative thread that has Liz and her mother moving closer to a moment of reconnection. Karen has returned to the adoption agency, and is seeking to contact the girl she gave up.

But the movie's substance lies in its psychological profiles, and it's as twisty and tortuous as any peek into the subconscious is liable to be.

For Karen, regret has turned into self-criticism that borders on self-loathing, a glib summary, but in line with what the movie's getting at. This leads to a strangely funny subplot about her mistreatment of an ardent suitor (Jimmy Smits). It's as if she can't accept the idea that someone finds her worthwhile and attractive.

She seems stable, though, next to daughter Liz, whose peculiarities show up in her sexual behavior, in the men she chooses, and in the manner she chooses to bed them (where the movie comes by its R rating).

The movie sometimes crosses from unpredictable into unbelievable. There are minor characters who should have been red-penciled at the screenplay stage, most notably a blind teen seer who dispenses philosophy that reeks of the word processor.

Bening, Watts and Washington, though, bring enough gravity to "Mother and Child" that we forgive the flaws, and accept the way that Garcia unites fate and coincidence in the final moments.