Jamie Lee Curtis is frightening

MOTHER'S BOYS is Jamie Lee Curtis' penultimate bravura performance as the sociopathic and psychopathic prodigal mother, Jude. Yet this mother is completely under the radar. Curtis is absolutely TERRIFYING as Jude.

At the time of this movie's filming, 1994, Jamie Lee Curtis was still at the apex of her beauty and femininity. She stood 5'7" and had killer legs that made one think she was 5'10". No wonder she was a pantyhose model for several years. Short skirts were still in vogue back in 1994 and both Curtis and Whalley are poster girls for the fashionable outfit and miniskirt with nylons.

We like to be frightened by evil that is ugly. But what is it when evil is diabolically beautiful?

The things that Jude (Curtis) does freaks and frightens the viewer. Everyone writes about her creepy bathroom scene where she stands up in the bath and has her adolescent son look at her, uh, caesarean birth scar. The son's eyes make it clear he saw everthing else. But no one wrote about the scene, that is appalling and almost comical at the same time. This is when she stops the car in the tunnel and tells her 12-year old son to drive. Then she gives a whoop and holler as the boy drives out of the tunnel down what appears to be a mountain road.

Then Jude begins weaving her diabolic web of intrigue, lies, half-truths, and manipulation with everyone. She dupliciously employes her sexuality and flirtation with everyone that can possibly be of use to her.

The personality that is Jude is one of the most dangerous beings that could possibly exist on this planet. I would actually be too scared to be alone with Jude in a lonely, dark place, and I'm a man. The explanation of Jude's psychology is that she is scarred beyond recognition because of her father's dramatic suicide - taking a swan dive off an office building's 20th floor. There's the insinuation that Jude may have had an inappropriate relationship with her father.

All in all, this is one, excellent suspense thriller. I bought the DVD partly, in all honesty, because I heard about how sexy and hot Jamie Lee Curtis looked in her short skirts and nylons, including some partial nude scenes. But frankly, the movie was so effective in portraying Jude as evil that I wasn't attracted to any of it. That's what the director intended and he succeeded brilliantly.