Engelsstaub ist tödlich

While Helen Hunt uses Angle dust in this movie it is not the one where she jumps from the window. She jumps from the window after snorting Angel Dust in another after school special titled Desperate Lives. That being said this film still rules. While it is definitely not one of the finest or funniest of the After School Specials it still gets the job done.

Whether you are a cynic looking for a good laugh from a made for TV version of refer madness or if you just want to relive those halcyon afternoons of racing home from school to see what ABC would come up with next I would recommend this one as definite must see.

Made at a time when such things as drug abuse, casual or chronic, were not discussed openly and we were blessedly not confronted daily with the reality show dregs of humanity, this film examines a very real problem.

The story of a favored son whose well meaning parents put more pressure on him than they realize to succeed and the way he tries to cope with the stress. Not just the story of someone with a problem this shows how a family has to learn to rework years of structured life and come to an understanding of each other. Full of quality work from all, John Putch playing son to his real life mother Jean Stapleton is excellent in the lead and Arthur Hill wonderful as his father. But it's really Jean Stapleton who drives this film with her powerful work as a mother who has tried her best and now must struggle to understand how sometimes even that is not enough. Worth the time to seek out.