Reunion

Marlo Thomas was 57 in 1994. It seemed unlikely she'd have young kids or fit this role. The father seems too old as well.

It's part drama, part ghost story. Some slow moments, but it pays off. Marlo Thomas is excellent as usual and should have won an Emmy for this one. I don't want to give away the plot (unlike everyone else here), but I will say it is a deeply touching film. The final scene will bring tears to your eyes and stick with you long afterwards. Peter Strauss is also wonderful here playing the confused and grieving father. His admission of guilt scene is proof of what an underrated actor he was. REUNION is powerful, emotional, haunting and a beautiful piece of TV movie making. This film was directed by actress Lee Grant. This should be released on DVD!

I am a Mother of a 4 year old boy and a 5 Year old girl. when I saw this movie for the first time yesterday, I cried all day.

I was even angry at the husband saying don't go I even felt some anger towards the mother. I felt anger, I felt hurt during this movie.

The little boys ghost broke my heart. If you have not seen this movie, have some tissues ready. I still cry thinking about it. Was this a true story? I was wondering because most movies on LMN are true. Such a sad movie True or Not. Don't forget the tissues if you have not seen this.

The story line is what compelled me to watch the movie. I was genuinely spooked every time the boy showed up, but there were certain problems that made it very unrealistic.

The casting makes it totally unbelievable. Marlo Thomas was 57 years old when this was filmed, and she looks it too. We are supposed to believe she gave birth to the twins at the age of 52??? Frances Sternhagen (the Grandmother) was 64 years old in 1994, which of course is appropriate for the movie and Marlo Thomas, her daughter-in-law, is 7 years younger.

I have always loved Marlo Thomas. She has been a very good actress as far as I'm concerned, but when I see a practically elderly woman playing a new mother - and I notice that a lot lately - it bothers me. Are they afraid to admit their age???? I am forty-six and proud of it, so it bothers me, as if they are trying to hide it.

Reunion is one of those movies where the words "I'm back" are supposed to hold many deep and profound meanings in addition to the literal one. However, all it does is make you laugh at it's absurdity and choke up the popcorn you were dozing off on.

What could have been a touching story about motherhood and family, or a moving film exploring the pain of loss and how it was dealt with, or a smart psychological thriller or even a little horror flick a la Pet Sematary - has been rendered utterly pointless and horribly boring due to an inane amateurish school-playish script.

Though the lead actress must be given due credit for her face distorting performance as the distraught mother, it is hardly her fault that her melodrama could not live up to a script that has her babbling motherly nothings to her kids (both dead and alive) throughout the movie.

Other actors need no special mention for guest appearances and cardboard props could probably have done better justice to their presence on screen.

The kids, however, being an integral part of the movie, ruin it even further beyond belief with their atrocious acting skills coupled with the equally wooden lines they had to mouth.

But though the scriptwriter has stolen from the story any glimmer of verisimilitude and turned it into an over the top tale with below average dialogues, could not the director have salvaged the movie with some amount of respectability to the intelligence of the unfortunate viewers? Well, he does try. At times the scenes between Mother and child, shot in bluish dark soft light, attempt to evoke tenderness in the hearts of the sleeping viewers. But then the very next instant he scares you out of your reverie with gimmicks straight out of horror movie textbooks. And the next moment the viewer is treated to spooky music pasted on scenes depicting the mother being affectionate to her children.

And though the scenes by themselves might be half effective as to what the director hopes to achieve in the viewer's mind, they fail to come together as one complete movie. The viewer is left feeling sympathetic for the child, then spooked out by him, then feeling sorry for the mother, then suspicious about her, and so on and so forth. By the end of the movie the viewer has no idea what he just watched.

Of course, the director must also be lauded for his heavy use of symbolism throughout the movie, which the idle viewer is compelled to notice (and often invent) for lack of anything truly interesting in the film. For example, breathing life into the child (literally!), macadamia nuts (to explain that she is going a little nutty now), gingerbread-man (the little one who has run away)... and many more (don't even get me started on the horses!). If you happen to be subject to this movie some day, I suggest you entertain yourself by spotting some more. Assuredly, they are mostly unintended anyway.

And to cap it all on a good note, the lights are well used, the snow looks nice, so do the animals. This won't hurt your eyes. Only your intelligence.