Mother's Boys

Mother's Boys is a 1993 American psychological thriller film starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Peter Gallagher, Joanne Whalley-Kilmer and Vanessa Redgrave. Plot Jude Madigan (Curtis) suddenly and inexplicably leaves her husband, Robert (Gallagher), and three sons. Three years later, when Robert finally files for divorce, Jude returns and tries to reclaim her former life. Robert refuses and insists on the divorce. Jude does not accept Robert's decision. She tries, unsuccessfully, to seduce him and harasses Robert's new girlfriend, Callie (Whalley). Eventually, Jude manipulates and convinces her eldest son, Kes (Luke Edwards), that Callie is the only person standing in the way of their reunited family. Influenced by Jude, Kes details a plan to his two brothers, Michael and Ben (Colin Ward and Joey Zimmerman), to scare off Callie, convincing them that it is just a game. As the boys debate the plan, Jude's estranged mother, Lydia (Redgrave), overhears and confronts Kes and threatens to tell their father. Kes tries unsuccessfully to convince his grandmother that it was just a "game" and tries to stop her from calling his father. A brief struggle ensues and Lydia accidentally falls down the stairs. While in the hospital, Lydia tells Jude she is not about to let her go through with her plans. She also tells Jude that her father "committed a great sin" against Jude, suggesting that Jude's father might have been molesting her from a young age (which might explain Jude's current erratic and sociopathic behavior). Lydia then goes on to say that she had planned on taking Jude away from her father (viewers are led to believe that this is the reason behind Jude's father's suicide). In a fit of rage, Jude then tries to murder her mother by asphyxiation but is interrupted by a nurse, Jude then flees the hospital. In a state of grief, Jude vandalizes her apartment by smashing the windows, furniture, and fixtures.