When you think of Oscar-nominated movies, chances are you don't think of movies from exploitation studio Crown International, but "The Stepmother" did indeed get an Oscar nomination for best song. Listening to the song, I have no idea why anyone would think it was award-worthy, but the lame song is an insignificant problem compared to the other problems found in the movie. Despite what the title might promise, the stepmother takes kind of a backseat role in the events of the movie. Indeed, her stepson isn't mentioned until a third of the movie is over, and does not actually appear until half the movie is over! (And the stepmother/stepson hookup does start until the last twenty minutes!) While there is some nudity and sex here and there, it's insignificant and not very erotic, so forget about getting some cheap thrills. Most of the movie is devoted to the husband of the stepmother character, and what we see of his life is for the most part a big bore. The movie comes to a standstill in almost all of his scenes, so when the situation is resolved at the end it comes as abrupt and forced, as if the filmmakers didn't care about building the story and characters and just ended things when they realized they had a running time of ninety or so minutes. Not Crown International's finest hour.
Review of The Stepmother
