58 heures d'angoisse

I first saw this movie when I was about six years old. It had a profound effect on me. The story of Jessica McClure is one that will undoubtedly touch everyone who hears it. Jessica: Everybody's Baby vividly shows the events that took place on October 14, 1987. This is a movie that I'm sure will stay with me always. The movie begins with Jessica playing in the backyard. The majority of the movie is a heart-wrenching journey in which baby Jessica cries out for help while desperate paramedics struggle to rescue her. The emotional reactions of her family are also shown throughout the film. The ending is, in my opinion, the greatest part of the movie. I recommend having some tissues by your side.

Watching this made for television movie about the true life story and rescue of Baby Jessica is rather nail-biting at times, even though it's been thirty-seven years since the events took place. Even knowing that she was eventually rescued, the filmed version is still heart wrenching to watch. I can't imagine what it must have been like for the responders on scene, except that it must have been awfully stressful with news cameras and onlookers in every direction watching their every move.

A young Beau Bridges leads the cast alongside Pat Hingle as the chiefs of police and fire who must devise a plan to save the little girl before time ultimately runs out. Bridges and Hingle both turn in fair performances as their respective characters. The story ends positively enough at least, with Jessica being rescued after more than two days underground.

As I am a daddy, this movie was hard for me to watch.

Shoot! The event was hard to hear about when it happened and I wasn't even a daddy then.

There are many views of this event and many levels on which to examine it. Some of the possibly valid ways would sound mean. (For example if I wanted to, (which I don't!) I COULD say poor children die every day, and I don't know about it and don't suffer for it, the way I did for Jessica McClure, because they die in a common, rather than an unusual way, and they are further away, than she was, and don't get the expedient media attention that Jessica got. But I am not (at least not yet) that cynical.

But the thing that made this movie was the SOUND of the little two-year old girl hooting and hollering up the hole, from twenty feet below. And the look on her dad's face. (There, but for the grace of God, might I be.) I don't know how I could ever endure such a thing. But all one can do is endure it.

This is a truly good movie. It has managed to captured the event and the people in a special way. The acting and directing are good and the story is well written. There is a really good score by Mark Snow too in there, but at the most intense scenes there are no music at all. I believe that it was a very good thing to cut the music as the silence made the scenes more dramatic then any musical score would.

If you are a parent I believe this movie would be much harder to watch then if you're not. However, the story is touching no matter what. I'm no parent nor a very sentimental guy, but I find this movie very touching. The way people can care and the way anything is possible if you just want it bad enough.

The movie brings up several interesting things. Among them the power of the media. It was the media who made this story, and so they could have turned it in any direction, really. It was the media who made people care.

If you get the chance don't let this movie go unseen. Espesially if you're a parent.

I watched this one night on TV when there wasn't much else on and wondered how they could make this film last nearly 2 hours? You get taken in by the emotion of it all, I found myself shouting at certain characters, like Mother for being so stupid to leave kids that young near a very deep well only covered by a plant pot? And the guy in charge who refused to listen to the guy offering him new water jet drilling ( maybe Jessica would have gotten out sooner? ) And then there was the guy sent to pull her out who was not strong emotionally. The only downside was the ending, it would have been good to have known more about what happened afterwards? All the acting was very good especially the actress playing the part of the mother.