Taken Too Far

I generally enjoy Christina Cox movies but this was awful. No real plot. And the girl from 7th Heaven is annoying.

Well written and screened. Would a mom go this far, you might ask. Well, what about those parents that start non-profits in the name of their teen to help them get into the Ivy Leagues? Or those who use money to buy power. Given that, the plot was realistic and at times kept you on the edge of your seat. I especially liked the background music and the filming was good. I hope we will see more by this screenwriter.

Let me start off by saying that I think this movie is seriously underrated, for a number of reasons, especially for a TV movie. My favorite thing about it is probably what so many people find difficult to invest in, the fact that in the end, it's such an overblown mess over something almost ridiculously trivial. The plot is pretty basic, almost threadbare even: obsessive control-freak mom wants her daughter to win a dance competition to gain an opportunity, so she has the main competition kidnapped. Sound stupid? it is, kind of. What's ridiculously trivial to you, could mean the entire world to someone with a very misplaced obsessive personality trait that borders on psychosis, and that's exactly the point! In the end you have such a maelstrom created over one woman's obsession that really amounts to nothing valid, where the ends in no way justify the means.

The Tonya Harding incident comes to mind, as the closest real life comparison I can think of, and this is a low stakes version of that. It's petty ridiculous stuff like this that pits neighbor against neighbor in the real world, and I see it all the time. Who needs a high stakes ransom movie over millions of dollars, when you have catty females risking everything so their daughters can win some stupid dance competition that may or may not result in anything remotely resembling a life changing opportunity? I like the nitty gritty. I like human frailty. I like human folly. This film is that, and the main protagonist Christina Cox captures all of that in an extremely impressive tour de force. "Are you off your freaking meds?!" ... "Yes I am, but that's not what this is about." Sums the film up perfectly. She is absolutely HATEABLE, and that's exactly what she's supposed to be: hardly a reason to slam the film itself.

The best feature of this film from a thematic point of view is its pacing combined with the subject matter. This is very much an action movie. Virtually all the dialogue is very tight, static, and plot driven. The screenplay is well-honed, and not bogged down with various plot holes, inconsistencies, or forced development. The whole kidnapping plot comes across as fairly plausible and realistic. All you're really asked to accept is an acting accomplice who's a dumb servile terrified groundskeeper, and willing to do anything he's told. Again, not that hard for me to accept, because I see those people everywhere. As it so happens, this film comes from the hand of a surprisingly seasoned director, and it shows, having taken part in the Robocop franchise, and various thrillers in his almost 50 year old resume. It turns out I've actually seen a couple of his really obscure Canadian films over the years. The guy simply understands pacing, and he has the technical skill to back it up.

This film might even be the director's swansong if not close to it. That's how much his output has slowed down over the years, but you know what? If that's the case, this isn't a bad one to go out on. You may not have deep character development, other than the main antagonist perhaps, but again, it was all for the sake of pacing, and it was the right choice, in my opinion. If they turned this subject into an overly drawn out courtroom drama, or an overwrought emotional character study about a young girl's dream to excel at dancing (eugh), then it would REALLY come across as a tawdry subject with misplaced emphasis, and completely miss the mark in capturing mundane folly driven to extremes. Again, some people may disagree, but that's what I loved about the film, which is not really something you see a lot of in movies, particularly movies with hostage taking, or home invasion themes.

I really enjoyed this female-centric thriller. It was like a modern day"Texas Cheerleader Mom" type of movie where that mom killed some teen girl so her daughter would be he head cheerleader but this movie is set in the children's dance world. I was glad to see a movie finally addressing the "dance mom" crazed mothers like you see on that reality show "Dance Moms" and how incensed and dangerous they can become when their children's reputation as dancers is on the line. Like the other title of this film, the dance moms really are "taken too far" with this whole dance competition world. Kids should be allowed to be kids and yes there are other sports that are competitive for children but some of these dance moms are worse than most and out of control and someone is gonna get hurt like what happens in this movie. The character of "Jeanette Grayson" (Christina Cox, a powerhouse "B" on steroids here) is spot on in how she embodies the obsessive dance mom determined to stop at nothing to see her daughter become a famous dancer. Sadly she does go too far and not only hurts her entire family but by the end of the film she has ruined her own life. I don't want to give anything away but I'm assuming this nut bag of a mother is not coming home for a long time by the end of this story. If only the busy father would have stopped her sooner. Jeanette's daughter, the character of "Sarah" is such a sweet and soft spoken, young girl. I was almost brought to tears when she reaches out to her competitor in the dance contest "Melanie" who almost lost her life due to what her sicko mother pulled on her. I liked the relationship of the girls who haven't been inflicted with the competitive nature sometimes women have with one another. I think the character of "Beth Hoyson" was perfect in this role. She also portrays the balanced mother who is allowing her daughter to pursue her creative dreams but at the same time trying to prepare her for real life by staying focused on her scholastic studies and all.

I was glad to see she found out just in time that the creepy mother "Jeanette" had nefarious plans all the while trying to pretend to be her friend. I hate women like that who play you so I was happy to see that B (Jeanette) gets hers at the end!

"Jeanette's" son "Jason" was played excellently but I can't help to think of how his life might turn out now that his mother succumbed to the dark side of being a dance mom. I guess having a good father, "Dean Grayson" will help but this Jason kid is obviously gonna be a bit damaged when it comes to the female archetype example set by his crazy mother. That "Dean" guy saw this coming and he even talks about his wife not taking her meds and drinking too much, but he should have acted faster, but I guess if he did then this movie wouldn't have happened! I also really felt sorry for that character that plays the family's houseman, "Stevie".

All in all the performances were really pretty good because I felt something for all of them. The cookie flying through the air and landing in Jason's fish tank was hilarious although sad but it really touched on how crazy this mother Jeanette is. I mean her daughter is bone thin and this crazy mother won't even allow her daughter one cookie for desert. Body image is also a really important issue going on in young teenage girls lives so this story lightly touches on that with this scene.

I'm no film expert but I watch a lot of Lifetime thrillers and this film would work well on that channel but I think it satisfies both the female and male audience. I like that genre of film called, FILM NOIR and in a weird way this film is sort of a modern day film noir to me. If Joan Crawford was alive today she could have also played the role of "Jeanette" and come to think of it if Barbara Stanwyck were alive she could have played "Beth". I also really like that it showed the struggles of single mom trying to raise a normal, healthy child and the challenge of holding down a job to keep food on the table.

Lastly I must say it was fun to watch Beverley Mitchell's "Beth" kick butt when she comes to her daughter's rescue after seeing her as a good girl all those years on 7th Heaven. All in all this was a very taut thriller with good acting by most. I thought the director and the writers created a unique story and again so happy to see someone addressing these wacked out and often crazy dance moms in a fiction film. Danielle

A jealous mom with issues mixed with Chardonnay is never a happy ending! DDM characters were well written with some quality lines. I loved the Midwest setting and the cautionary tale of getting too involved in your children's lives to fulfill oneself. Taken Too Far is also a good title but Deadly Dance Mom reminds me that sadly, this isn't too far from a real news story. I'd recommend this as a movie to watch with your kids.