marsmitchell79

If a smaller woman wants to beat a man in a combat fight, that's how you write it and how you do it!

You don't just show up and he's beaten; that would make it completely unrealistic! What's so hard to believe: 1. An abusive husband that confines his wife, but does what he wants! That happens sometimes as it does in the movie: from first major argument on, a physically abusive man might decide to lay down his ground rules right then and there!

2. Slim(J Lo) had self defense training and anyone can get that(esp. against a coward who really can't fight). I LOVED THE PART WHEN SHE PUTS RINGS AND STEELTOE BOOTS ON TO SHOW THAT SHE WAS NOT FIGHTING AN EQUAL IN THE PHYSICAL DEPARTMENT! THIS IS JUST COMMON SENSE AND, YET, SOME B-MOVIES SHOW A WOMAN KICKING/ PUNCHING A MAN AS IF HE WAS A WOMAN! THIS MOVIE DOES NOT MAKE THIS HUGE MISTAKE! ALSO, THERE IS REASON FOR HER TO ENGAGE MITCH IN A FIGHT, SINCE SHE CANNOT BEAT HIM IN A COURT OF LAW AND GRACE'S CUSTODY CASE IS COMING UP!

3. Mitch(abusive husband) had connections that rich men probably do! Even if a rich man is not crooked, he has connections and finds people who love being his friend. If he is crooked, he can find the kinds of friends he needs(BECAUSE THERE IS LITTLE RISK TO HIM). He talks in code speak and--even if a mostly petty criminal(like Mitch)--he is probably not going to do any time to make him stop. If a rich man is crooked, then both he has people that love finding or feel they "HAVE" to find criminal employment and there is little risk(SINCE HE WOULD DO RARE SERIOUS CRIMES WITH THOSE--AS IN THE MOVIE--WITH THOSE THAT HE HAD SOMETHING SERIOUS ON AND, THE OTHER STUFF, HE COULD ALSO DO WITH THOSE SAME PEOPLE OR OTHERS: AND IF CAUGHT IN THE SMALL TIME STUFF, HE DOES NO TIME WORTHY OF NOTE). Again, very realistic!

4. She had escape plans and routes--as every person on the run should!

5. As smart and/or wise as she is(or through her dad's connections), she can definitely learn about the simple technologies, etc. of the day that could allow her to do what she did in the movie to keep Mitch from getting help.

Negatives: 1. Slim has access to too many connections: Her father has connections that rival Mitch--if not surpass or circumnavigate Mitch's connections completely! Slim got "around" even before Mitch--having an ex in Seattle without explanation and she lives someplace else. Both happening to the same poor person creates instances of coincidence in a movie where she's on the run; this is bad for this movie. They could have had J Lo researching to find someone that was well studied in fighting techniques and stealing from Mitch or his mother to get money. 2. When she is on the run, there is a lull in activity there!

At the beginning, the movie is average to slightly below average, it has an explosively good middle, and, again, it returns back to this average to slightly below average ending.

Holden(Townsend) is distraught by the accidental, vehicular killing of his wife, Rietta(Bassett), but mostly holds it together around others. His baby sister, Janay(Rowell), helps him through the sudden loss. Holden and Ri have 3 kids: an older son who has a college graduation eminent(who has an unnoteworthy part; they don't even show him grieving his mom's loss), a much younger middle son nickamed Z(narrates the movie, the movie revolves around him and the people that he knows that are also appear in movie, and his friends/acquaintances add meat to the story), and a youngest daughter(who, like the eldest son, is insignificant). Janay plays her part so well that she seems more like Holden's oldest sister, aunt, or mother rather than the baby sister. She is that critical piece that knows just what to do--whoever has a problem! But, then again, she seems to be a practicing Christian and God will lead us to what we need to say, do, or--in most situations--what we desire of Him(putting the desire of your heart verse side by side with there's a time and a season for all things verse leads me to believe that there is a time to have the windows of heaven close occasionally and; whereas, that scripture from the NT leads me to believe that almost every time that a Christian asks having the key to unlock a certain blessing from the kingdom of heaven, then it will be unlocked. Sometimes, that's fasting and prayer and/ or love)! My point is simply that--if she was a born-again Christian--then I could definitely see where she would know exactly what to say and do! So, Janay played the Christian role well and it was well written! Z runs into a combo of criminal trouble and rebellion after his mom's death--which forces him to mature before it's too late! Z's friend gets molested by a his mom's boyfriend. Holden both flashes back about Ri and imagines her throughout!

Now, the fight scene lacked really good acting; it looked like cheap wrestling rather than an actually fight. The basketball camera work was one of the worst that I ever seen! Plus, the basketball kids' playing basketball scenes were not well done.

Lifetime Version is probably a whole lot cleaner; though, I cannot say since I've never seen the DVD version. SPOILERS IN LATTER PART.

A married couple already having a boy and girl that are very school age(younger than 7th grade) plan to have another kid. The couple has plenty of money and plenty of love for kids, but the marriage itself is really held tenuously together by lust and big problems that are always ready to surface at a moment's notice. The husband has had issues with infidelity in his past and the wife has had problems with drinking(maybe brought on by his infidelity, but this drinking causes her to be more neglecting than a parent should and she typically would). Anyway, they are 30-ish(young) and very attracted to one another with the aforementioned things as a backdrop, so they try to have another child naturally but to no avail. They consider adoption and they fortuitously land in the web of Esther. Esther instantly becomes irresistible in a child-like way to the couple. At first, Esther appears only to be a very odd genius, but she does very horrible things around the couple's deaf little girl and the boy(who considers her a freak due to how she talks, dresses, and how his friends view her). The boy knows about Esther killing a bird, but strange things are happening all over the place that force him to press his sister for details. She knows Esther's true nature and he drags it out of her. As kids are wont to do, though, he doesn't hide this info well enough and Esther finds out. He becomes the next victim. Esther has also been doing something else this whole time: as child would act that was older than they say or that had reached puberty early, she is secretly attracted to adult men and plays on the couple's history to try to tear them apart so that she can have her husband. Like I said earlier, the husband's only real interest in his wife is lust; he does not love her; if he did, he would listen to his wife(who knows Esther is responsible for all of the negative happenings there-- regardless, of what Esther says or does). If he loved his wife, he might not have become a victim. He trusts Esther more than his wife and cannot see the forest for the trees--so to speak. The wife stays at the hospital and he takes Esther and his little girl home. She comes on to him, but he rejects her. So, now, he is her enemy, too, and victim! The funny thing is that while he does not love her, she loves him to death! The wife gets a crucial piece of intel, as she has been seeking every since she became very suspicious of Esther. And heads home to warn her husband, when he isn't answering his phone. A battle between a mother, her little girl, and Esther begins! And Esther has the gun!

SPOILERS: This movie would not be in the least bit believable if not for the natural race of Esther. Look at the facial features of white kids and adults; in MANY cases, there's not much difference at all; it's surprising in fact! Look at the kids' features(both) in that movie and the adults. It's why this movie could actually take place--if you respected your adopted child's privacy enough to not pry; but also, why the movie "Little Man" COULD NOT! That's one of the differences between white and black natural development! A black adult--as in Little Man--could not pass for adult. ALSO, some dwarfs do not have the different eyes, etc.--meaning they can really have normal features, too! This makes Orphan all the more believable; it could happen--IF THE PARENTS RESPECTED HER PRIVACY AND THE CHILD FIGURES OUT A WAY TO LIE TO GET OUT OF A COUPLE OF DENTAL AND DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENTS. STILL, IT WON'T WORK FOREVER, AS THE CHILD EVENTUALLY HAD TO GO TO ONE OR THE OTHER. AND SEEING HOW THE CHILD WAS ADOPTED, YOU WOULD GET THINGS LIKE THAT DONE BECAUSE OF AGENCIES SWOOPING IN AND THE CHILD IS NOT YOURS. IT WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE PERMANENT, BECAUSE SHE WAS GOING TO EVENTUALLY MAKE HER MOVE ON THE HUSBAND WHEN SHE HAD TO. IN LITTLE MAN, IT WASN'T A PERMANENT ARRANGEMENT, EITHER, BECAUSE HE WAS A CRIMINAL.