He plays a middle-aged man who moves home to be with his mother after a divorce. Mom is played by Debbie Reynolds, and she's terrific. Mother wavers between being funny and insightful, to slightly annoying and flat. Albert Brooks has created a comedy that we can all relate to, because just about every personality trait is covered in his film.
Mother is a concept film that does have some fine moments.
It does fall short when it has nowhere to go, or is developing another food scene. The PG-13 rating is for language, and the movie features one of the more abrubt endings in quite some time. Mother is funny, but it's also a bit thin and uneven.