| courtesy Sundance Institute Danai Gurira stars in "Mother of George," screening in the U.S. Dramatic competition of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

"Mother of George"

U.S. Dramatic

** (two stars)

What seems intended to be a personal and intense slice-of-culture drama comes off as grand soap opera. Adenike (Danai Girura) and Ayodele (Isaach de Bankole), Nigerian immigrants living in Brooklyn, get married -- with much pressure to produce offspring. But after two years with no children, Adenike is desperate. She even contemplates a visit to a fertility clinic, though no one on Ayodele's side of the family is willing to admit that he's the cause of their continued childlessness. Ayodele's mother (Angelique Kidjo), eager for a grandchild, gives Adenike some shocking advice.
Director Andrew Dosunmu gives the story a vibrant, gritty look. But Darci Picoult's script comes off as standard melodrama, usually delivered at high volume like a stage production of an Arthur Miller play.

-- Sean P. Means

"Mother of George" screens again: Friday, 9:30 p.m., Redstone Cinema 1, Park City.