If you paid attention, you would know Dern was his mother. His wife/GF was long gone.

I think the odd part was when the sheriffs entered their house, the short fat sheriff automatically 'assumed' that she was his mother..If i was a sheriff in that situation, I would have thought differently..

Wow - you are really that dumb?

Apparently you didn't watch the movie because she does play his mother. But I'm guessing you never make a comment the many times men play the love interests of women with similar & greater age differences.

Roseanne Barr would have made a great mom.

I just thought it was bad casting. They threw in one or two lines at the beginning of the film to address the closeness in age, but after that ignored the issue. I think it would have been much better if they had someone play the mother at a more appropriate age not to mention Laura Dern still has a fairly youthful quality.

Weird thread. If Laura Dern is supposed to be playing her actual age, that would have made her character a mother at 16not all that unusual in our society. I never thought that she was supposed to be his wifedid anybody who actually watched the movie think this?
I'm English, and if there's anything more deplorable than our cooking, it's our lovemaking

It was the family home that Garfield grew up in.

Piece of sheit
Oh what a day. What a lovely day!

Actually, she is a mother who lost her husband and her son tries to keep her and his own son in the family home. No losers in the film at all.
"Sit down, Podrick. We're going to need details. Copious details."

Or they could have decided to live together incestuously like in some Freudian fantasy.
Sick Sick Sick though if one's mother looked like Laura Dern (even here, where she was trying unsuccessfully to look frumpy)

Or they could have decided to live together incestuously like in some Freudian fantasy.

I think this could work in a temporary situation only. Think about it. The son and mom would both very likely get into a marriage or romantic relationship eventually and that would not work with them all living together, but while the grandson is small it could be a really good arrangement.
Dini

Well, he was a single father with a little boy. It was cool that he could live with his Mom, better to have a Grandma help raise a child than babysitters!

Ha! Yeah, switching to decaf.

Wow, talk about someone sounding like he/she got up on the wrong side of the bed!

I said there's nothing wrong with that. But now that I know she's his Mom-so that means he's a 32 year old loser living at home or she's a 48 year old who has to crash at her son's house. No wonder they have their a#*es thrown out in the street. Dumb movie. Like another post said-PAY YOUR BILLS!

She's his mother, but even if she was his wife, who cares. They would both be adults.
"
Guys like you don't die on toilets
." Mel Gibson-Riggs, Lethal Weapon