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Mostly Martha isn't. It's all about Martha. We find out so little about the other characters, we only know stuff about the main character, and even then it is a very little amount.
Martha (Martina Gedeck) is a master chef who has to make every dish perfect. She's the second best cook in the city, according to her boss. Of course, Martha doesn't think that. When the customer thinks a dish is undercooked, she forgets that the customer is always right.
Martha's sister dies, and her daughter Lina (Maxime Foerste) comes and stays with her for awhile. We don't know squat about Lina (except that she doesn't like oysters), and we don't learn anything about her as the movie progresses. Her behavior (skipping school) is something we have no idea she is capable of; they make us think that she is an angel and she does something dastardely, but there's no proof that she was an "angel".
The various other characters that come into play don't work either. Sam (Ulrich Thomsen), Martha's neighbor, has nothing to do except to be there whenever he is needed in the script. Speaking of the script, I thought it was a comedy. One laugh, one smile. I guess I was mistaken, but it's upsetting that people actually think it's a comedy (just like Gosford Park). The music cues were often too loud, and seemed to be for a dramatic scene in a comedy (not to mention it sounded like music from the computer game The Sims).
On the other hand, Gedeck was good as Martha, she had me convinced that she Martha, the busy woman who didn't really have any life. I also thought Foerste was fine as Lina, but her emotions were uneven. She didn't cry when her mother died, but she was really upset when Martha forgot to pick her up. It wasn't her fault, it was the script's. She was mortified at Martha at one part, and then after a very un-motivating speech by Martha, everything's honky-dory.
The running time could have been trimmed down, and the script was very predictable. Once Martha meets a new chef at her resturant, they initally hate each other? Three guesses on what happens, and the first two don't count. I would not recommend Mostly Martha (which is a stupid name for a movie anyway), and there are better limited-release movies out there to see.
Rated PG for mild language and thematic elements.
In German with English subtitles.
Review Date: Septermber 14, 2002