Hush is a pretty standard thriller about maternal possessiveness taken to extremes. Jessica Lange is Martha, a widow who runs a beautiful horse stud that`s fallen on hard times. Her husband died in an unfortunate accident many years ago. Her grown son Jackson - Jonathan Schaech - lives in New York with girlfriend Helen - Gwyneth Paltrow. When he takes Helen home to visit mother the two women hit it off, although Jackson`s grandmother Alice - Nina Foch - has some dire warnings about Martha. Back in New York Helen unexpectedly falls pregnant and the violence of the city impinges, so the young couple decides to return to Virginia to live with Martha. Big mistake. Martha has dynastic tendencies, to her Helen is just a brood mare.
Despite the fact that Hush has few surprises it does have some plus\'.... the main one being Jessica Lange in a role that could so easily have tipped over into the grotesque. She`s wonderful. Paltrow and Schaech seem to come from the restrained, bland school of acting and while Paltrow has some moments of intensity it`s hard to figure out Schaech`s appeal on screen. The scenery is gorgeous, the horses beautiful, it`s quite a tense little thriller at times, but it`s nothing particularly new.
