Justice pour mon fils

I am not the audience for Lifetime Channel movies but just happened to see Beverly D'Angelo (always beautiful and here looking gorgeously plump) in this, so stayed to watch. When I saw Dana Ivey appear, I was sure I was in for something wonderful - but I wasn't.

I am not that familiar with Lifetime Channel sorts of movies - and as a conservative middle aged man, don't think I'm the intended audience. This is a social issue, soapy victim succeeds against the odds movie. I'm not a fan of such movies.

The movie is very strange. I kept awaiting a twist or series of twists because: a) the direct evidence against the stepmother is very slight (she's presented as a nightmare mother but there's no eyewitness at the time of death, no instrument of death, etc.), b) an actress of the caliber and eminence of Dana Ivey had thus far been given hardly any lines (and allowed only a sort of Hammer Films wicked stepmother look), and c) the "victim" (biological mom) repeatedly asked about how much punishment the wicked stepmother would receive - and how soon it could be inflicted.

Amazingly, there's no twist at all! The victim was simply eager! The disappointment is strong! The dialogue is truly terrible - the judge actually says "why if I could, I would throw away the key" when passing sentence! (Yes, this was first heard in a drama in 1908 - B.C.).

So, except for the (quite real) pleasure in seeing the over-ripe curves of Beverly D'Angelo in skirts and dresses made with more slender women in mind, this movie's a bust.

The acting in this movie left a lot to be desired. With the exception of the wicked stepmother, the others seemed to give no real effort, and thus their characters had very little life to them.

At some points the dialog is laughable, which is the case of this film, is not a good thing.

I remember watching this movie as a teen, of course very sensitive subject matter. What's so heart-wrenching about it is that is a true story. And I can't imagine what it's like to look for the child you gave up years ago all to find out he was killed by a sick abusive parent! It really makes you think. And you wonder how often does sick things like this happen! This is not a movie you want to watch over and over especially if you're emotional with subject matter like this, which I am. Beverly D'Angelo's acting skills as, always were spectacular.

What might be considered a made-for-TV "Lifetime movie" was actually produced by and shown on NBC originally. But it's definitely the type of movie that would show up on the Lifetime Network.

Beverly D'Angelo stars as a mom who wants justice for her adopted son's death. Based on a true story, it covers all the main points in the saga but blatantly appears quite abridged. Not that it matters. Acting is meh and it's just a straightforward story that's told with no twists or turns or nothing' like that.

Not the worst 85 minutes ever but nothing memorable.

5.0 / 10 stars

--Zoooma, a Kat Pirate Screener

This story of yet another small child, abused and battered to the point of death, is heartbreaking and poignant. Unfortunately, the actors and the movie itself just aren't up to the task. Almost everyone seemed like an amateur acting in a high school production, reading their lines in strangely stilted tones. Beverly D'Angelo's portrayal of the birth mother was so shockingly off-balance that I began to wonder why I never noticed what a poor actress she is. When trying to enlist the help of a reporter to investigate the possible murder of her son many years earlier, she reverts to flirting and teasing. When he asks her who the murder victim was, she answers with a big smile, bright eyes (still flirting) and a strangely triumphant grin on her face, "My son!" It was grotesque and repulsive. Initially the assistant D.A. who is going to prosecute the case is hostile and unsympathetic to the birth mother - the next thing you know, the A.D.A is trying to convince the victim's surviving brother to be a witness for the prosecution because she (the A.D.A) was "adopted too" blah, blah. We are never told or shown how this turn of heart came about. Eh...why go on, it's a heartbreaker but the acting was so bizarre and annoying it's almost unbearable to watch.