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Shelley Long is brilliant starring as Truddi Chase in this fact-based TV movie. Long's wide range of talent shows full force as she enacts every incident and nails each personality's character with such seamless grace, as if she herself was Truddi Chase. Co-star Alan Fudge captures his role well as Truddi's husband.

I have never seen such a credible, factual movie created so in sync (almost word for word) with the book which it was based on, "When Rabbit Howls", written by Truddi Chase.

Directed by Lamont Johnson, each scene guides the viewers through Truddi's life, with narrated childhood memories, accurately depicting her life's experiences without overwhelming violence. Clever ending shows Truddi's triumph over her stepfather's criminal abuse of her. Well done!

I think this is a really good film for Shelley to have done because it shows that she is a much better actor than she got to show in "Cheers". Pretending to be a different kind of person than you are in real life is good acting, and convincingly playing several different kinds of people in one film is great acting. It is true that the medical condition isn't examined as a medical condition but in my opinion that is not the point if making this film - it was just to give the viewer a feeling of what having multiple personalities does to the subject's family and friends, and in my case it succeeded in that endeavour.

When I saw this film I had never seen an episode of "Cheers", and had never heard of Shelley Long, so all I saw was a great actor who for long periods of a rollercoaster story made me believe that it was all real. I loved the salesperson who could almost literally sell anything to anybody, and I especially loved the plate smashing scene. In my experience only a few other TV films are anywhere near as good as this one, the only one that springs to mind being the Amy Irving version of "Anastasia".

TV-made adaptation of the autobiography "When Rabbit Howls: by the Troops for Truddi Chase", chronicling Chase's diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder. A commercial artist who married her boss and had one daughter, Chase was haunted by the sexual and psychological abuse afflicted on her as a child by her stepfather. The different personalities she later manifested--her "troops"--soon began interrupting her life so frequently that it ruined her marriage and drove Chase to a therapist. Overextended, lumpy drama preconceived as an acting tour-de-force for its leading lady, however Shelley Long is too calculating as an actress to be convincing as a woman with a serious, frightening mental disorder (and it's her performance that has to carry this project a long way). Too often, Long just seems snippy--in a rotten mood--talking in different rhythms with different accents. Tom Conti is a welcome addition in the film's second half as Truddi's doctor, but other supporting performances are weak. Lamont Johnson's direction is equally mediocre; he mounts the past-and-present proceedings well enough, but allows scenes such as the young Truddi being chased around the farm by her leering stepfather to go on forever (he also gets docked a star for a quite unnecessary baby photo slide-show). Interesting subject matter has been explored more successfully before, yet there is a certain amount of fascination with a topic like this, if one is able to find the heart of the piece amongst the false histrionics.

This movie is ABOLUTELY the VERY BEST movie I have ever seen! It can chill you to the bone at times as well as make you sick, however, it shows how victims cope with verbal and physical abuse. If you have ever been exposed or know someone who has,this movie can give you great insight!!!! With all the mental illness in this country people need to be aware of the dramatic effects of abuse.

This is the sad story about Truddi Chase's life, a story who should be treated whit respect! How in earth could they put Shelley Long (Cheers) in that role, she could not handle it and it made the film boring and annoying because of her lack of talent! I wish that someone would remake this film, the role of Truddi Chase would be perfect for Joanna Kerns (Captive, Shattering the silence)

The only reason to watch this movie is because of the story, but i would rather wait until they have re-filmed it, so its possible to truly follow Truddi's life and not have a constant need to strangle Shelley Long.