‘My Mom Jayne’ Review: Mariska Hargitay’s Documentary Portrait of Her Mother Has Massive Revelations — and Even More Empathy

It isn’t conscionable that Mariska Hargitay has been waiting to show this communicative for a agelong time, it’s that she besides wasn’t definite precisely what story it was that she had to tell. That uncertainty, and her decades-long process of grappling pinch her identity, has resulted successful an introspective, searching documentary truthful accomplished you’d ne'er cognize it was Hargitay’s first characteristic film arsenic a director.

“My Mom Jayne” has nan longtime “Law & Order: SVU” prima turning her lens connected nan mother she ne'er knew, nan character and activity awesome Jayne Mansfield, who died successful 1967 erstwhile Hargitay was conscionable 3 years old. She had only 1 representation of her mom, and moreover that she suspects she mightiness person dreamed up. She had been successful nan car pinch 2 of her brothers erstwhile her mom had her fatal wreck, suffered a caput wounded herself, and was astir near astatine nan segment until 1 of her brothers woke up and asked wherever she was.

Her father, nan bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay, an highly benignant man, was truthful devoted that he became her rock. How could Jayne person near him to wed nan abusive Matt Cimber? And past extremity up pinch different abusive man erstwhile she near Cimber for her divorcement lawyer Sam Brody? Why did Jayne insist connected calling her “Maria” erstwhile her sanction is Mariska? Why is it that location are truthful fewer photos of Mariska and her mom wherever her mom seems to beryllium showing her overmuch attraction aliases affection?

Hargitay’s documentary is truthful powerful because she’s asking these questions nan aforesaid measurement nan assemblage mightiness and involving america successful her detective-story quest to portion it each together. There comes a clip successful astir people’s lives that if there’s a large mobility astir your parents, you want to find nan answer. Maybe successful knowing them, you tin amended understand yourself. For a agelong time, though, Hargitay admits she tried to tally from her mom’s shadow. She was ashamed of Jayne’s activity awesome position and tried arsenic difficult arsenic she could to spell successful a different guidance and beryllium taken earnestly arsenic an character herself. We spot Hargitay amid nan leftover rubble of her parents’ Beverly Hills estate, which was bought by Engelbert Humperdinck successful nan years aft her mom’s death; her quest to bargain backmost nan soft she erstwhile played; and her first clip opening up nan family retention portion since 1969. She moreover finds Mansfield’s Golden Globe grant (in nan defunct class New Star of nan Year) and places it adjacent to her ain for “SVU.”

As nan years person transpired, Hargitay has recovered herself having much empathy and much of an affectional relationship to her mom — moreover staging a day statement for her pinch a barroom and candles successful nan earliest days of Covid. That increasing knowing mirrors, to immoderate degree, nan greater empathy our civilization has engendered arsenic a full toward nan tragic Hollywood figures of nan past and nan greater capacity for knowing that activity symbols tin person a encephalon too.

Mansfield was accomplished arsenic a musician. But her attempts astatine playing nan violin connected “The Jack Paar Show” resulted successful nan big conscionable asking her to buss him instead. She acted to acclaim successful “Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?” connected Broadway, and successful nan movie adaptation. And yet she could ne'er shingle being defined solely arsenic a pinup. She wasn’t perfect, and Hargitay isn’t willing successful immoderate imagination type of her mom. She wants to understand why she was nan measurement she was, and judge that, moreover successful ray of nan galore bad choices Mansfield besides made.

Of those choices, there’s 1 that is peculiarly world shattering that we won’t stock here. It’s champion near to nan movie to unspool that one, which Hargitay does pinch bonzer storytelling verve, recalling a astir four-decade representation astir a photograph that nan caput of Mansfield’s instrumentality nine showed her and made her reconsider everything she thought she knew astir her life. This revelation has been retired location earlier — Mansfield’s now centenarian publicist, Raymond “Rusty” Strait, had included it successful a tell-all book he wrote astir her successful 1992 — but it’s confirmed by Hargitay present for nan first time. She besides proves an awesome interviewer, holding Strait to relationship on-camera successful nan movie for betraying his confidences. She interviews her siblings arsenic well, older than her and possessing nan memories of Mansfield that she’d cherish truthful dearly, and elicits incredibly moving answers.

Some movies are beautiful overmuch afloat formed by nan clip nan camera starts rolling. Others are recovered on nan way, their communicative and meaning discovered arsenic portion of nan film’s making. “My Mom Jayne” is that benignant of movie. And each nan much honorable and unfastened and friendly because of it.

Grade: B+

“My Mom Jayne” will aerial Friday June 27 connected HBO and watercourse connected MAX.