Mother's little helpers

In 'Tara,' family life is twisted by a mom with 3 personalities

January 17, 2009|Matthew Gilbert, Globe Staff

Television has been not-so-quietly burying the concept of "normal life" for years now. If you ever thought America was a bastion of conventionality, here's a pot-dealing mom ("Weeds"), a serial-killing brother ("Dexter"), a meth-dealing dad ("Breaking Bad"), and a ladies club of loonies ("Desperate Housewives") for your consideration. No one knows what goes on behind closed doors, our TV writers remind us, and you really should assume it's human, flawed, illegal, or just plain twisted.

Showtime's "United States of Tara" is a logical extension of this decades-long subversion of - and liberation from - "The Brady Bunch." The comedy series, premiering tomorrow at 10 p.m., is about a suburban mother and wife, Tara Gregson (Toni Collette), who has dissociative identity disorder. When stress kicks in, Tara switches into one of her three alternates - a pot-smoking teen who goes by "T," a Mrs. Cleaver type named Alice, or Butch, a gruff Vietnam vet. Off meds due to troublesome side effects, Tara now sees her life as "a multiple-personality reunion tour."

So yes, the show is partly "Sybil: The Comedy," with Mom as a Tracey Ullman type who keeps her family amused with kooky voices and costume changes. Who will she be today? Will she try to seduce Dad (John Corbett) as the slutty T, or will she want to watch porn with him as Butch? But "Tara" also has dramatic components, lest any mental-health advocates are gearing up for a PR campaign. Tara is a cheerless woman who can't cope with life, and Collette spends her time as Tara not smiling. Her disorder isn't just an eccentric metaphor for a modern woman straining to be everything to everyone; it's also a source of grief and loneliness. "United States of Tara" wants to have it both ways - and, more than you might expect, it does.

Frankly, I'm of two minds about this show, which was executive produced by Steven Spielberg and created by Diablo Cody, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of "Juno." The best surprise is that, like "Juno," it's not really about a dysfunctional family, and there are none of the melodramatics of "Brothers & Sisters." The Gregsons have issues, for sure. Daughter Kate (Brie Larson) is a snark machine who snaps, "Why can't Mom be manic-depressive like all the other moms?" And Marshall (Keir Gilchrist, who deserves his own series) is a brave guy who shoulders far too much weight. "Because of you, we get to be interesting," he selflessly says to his mother.