When an Irish Catholic mother’s son is involved in a tragic fraternity hazing incident at his university, she takes justice into her own hands, proving that hell hath no fury like a mother scorned.
Some psychological studies have shown that taking revenge on someone who wronged them does actually make people feel better, at least in the short run, though the long-term effects may be unpleasant. Author and actress Siobhan Fallon Hogan takes on this premise as a mother in an all-too-familiar situation in “Rushed.” College and university fraternity hazing deaths pop up frequently in grim news headlines, leaving distraught and angry parents and families in their wake. The usually preferred retribution is played out in the courts across the US as suits are filed by frustrated parents against the offending fraternity and members involved, the institution of learning that shelters these groups, and even the parents of the students perceived to have participated in often egregious acts of stupidity that resulted in a loss of life.
Hogan’s EVERY MOTHER, however, chooses a different road, (literally) to avenge the loss of her oldest son Jimmy (Jay Jay Warren), a college freshman away from home and out from under mom’s overprotective thumb for the first time. Throwing her clothes in a laundry basket, Barbara hits the road to seek out other mothers who share her pain and record their stories. Her hope at that point is to eventually bring about change within the system that allows hazing deaths to go unpunished and therefore allows them to continue. Frustrated by the sadness of the mothers she encounters and the inaction of politicians who could affect the necessary change, Barbara finally chooses revenge. It is revenge served cold that no doubt in the moment does make this grieving mom feel better.
The premise of the screenplay is heartfelt, especially for parents and particularly for those who have had to face the tragedy of a hazing death head-on. Hogan and Robert Patrick evoke our sympathies. Unfortunately, the film’s focus is lost in the seeming unending driving that Barbara engages in while seeking out the other mothers and filming their stories. More time on their stories, less on getting to them would have played far better. In a capsule, that is the overall failure of the film: too much time spent on scenes that could have been significantly shortened and not enough time on the message and method of a mother drowning in grief and thwarted in her search for justice. Publicized as a “thriller”, “Rushed” fails to live up to that description until the final scenes. The question becomes, should a story as sad as the loss of a child, become a “thriller”? If the answer is “Yes, it could be,” the film sadly fails to achieve that goal.
In Theaters and on VOD & Digital Friday, August 27th
3.4k
20k
1.5k
1.3k