Broken Promises: Taking Emily Back

Predictability is the key word here. This is a very standard movie-of-the-week involving an adoption between an upper-middle class couple and a down-on-their-luck couple, who want to give up their young toddler, Emily, because they can only barely afford to feed themselves. Ted Levine and Kathleen Wilhoite are the homeless couple, and being well into their thirties at least, the viewer gets the sense that their predicament is not the result of youthful inexperience but character issues. Ted Levine is simply fantastic, much too talented for this movie, to be blunt. He commands every scene he appears in with his rough, abrupt demeanor, often offending the prospective parents of his daughter. He is cavalier in the "sale" of his daughter, and yet it is hard to dislike him. His wife, Lily, played by Kathleen Wilhoite, is whipped-dog subdued, completely unassertive and willing to let her daughter be traded without a peep, although she is consumed by depression afterward. Both halves of this couple are the main reason to watch "Broken Promises". The story will not particularly surprise or enlighten, but their performances are magnetic.

Broken Promises is a classic. I enjoyed this wonderful true human interest story when it first aired and when I had the opportunity to see it again recently I remembered how good it was. Wonderful actors, portraying complicated characters, skillfully show all sides of an enormously emotionally charged situation. Cheryl Ladd was lovely as the adopting mother desperate to fill her lonely life with caring for a homeless child. Ted Levine and Kathleen Whilhoite were absolutely riveting in their roles as the homeless couple who were hopeless victims of their family backgrounds. Kathleen Whilhoite was heartbreaking as we watch her reluctantly give her daughter to strangers "for the good of the child." Ted Levine mesmerizes us every time he is on screen with the wonderfully complicated characterization of the birth father who deep down loves his daughter but knows he should never have been a father and isn't equipped to fill that role. Being strong for both of them, he persuades his wife to give up the child, a heartbreaking scene. This movie is a wonderful true story of love and selflessness beautifully acted with a final scene that will haunt you for weeks. I recommend this movie to all who love a great true story.

The target audience for this film is women, and any woman who has ever had a child, wanted a child, or lost a child will cry over it. But men should also give it a chance, not just for the family themes that men in general ought to give more attention to or the aesthetic pleasure of looking at Cheryl Ladd (who is perhaps too beautiful for her part; her friend Ella, played by Polly Draper, is better cast--attractive but not exotically beautiful, and genuinely likeable in her small part). But men and women alike will appreciate the versatile Ted Levine as Gary Ward, Emily's father, who loves his wife and daughter but has just never figured out how to be a productive member of society. Though he has trouble controlling his temper, Gary is not really dangerous, and his vulnerability makes him a sympathetic character. The scene where he coaxes his wife (as undereducated and inept as he is) to come downstairs into his arms has an odd charm combined with pathos. The viewer feels that they belong together and need each other and that Pam (Cheryl Ladd) is wrong to try to keep them apart.

If you care about children and families, watch "Broken Promises" for the bittersweet story. If you don't care about those elements, watch it for Ted Levine's performance. Either way, it's worth your time.