Too Close to Home

Wow - this was one EVIL mother. I'm sure we all know someone with an overbearing mum, but this was just ridiculous. The only thing more infuriating than her sociopathic meddling was the ignorance of her son (played by Ricky "Rick" Schroeder). You would think that if he was smart enough to be a brilliant attorney (?), he would be able to put two and two together when very bad things started to happen.

Attorney Rick has lived his entire life up to this point somehow accepting his mother's involvement in every aspect of his life. It's almost uncomfortable to the viewer; she behaves like an incestuous mother and they bicker and make-up like a creepy couple. Things get really out of hand when he flies the coop and attempts to become a normal independent 30-year-old man...

Overall, a classic example of a great Lifetime movie: has-beens, decent acting, good plot, a 'strong' or psychotic woman, and at least one character that infuriates the hell out of you. 6 out of 10.

The movie was certainly true to the real life story on which it was based. It was hard for me to find newspaper articles about the actual facts, but when I located them, I could see that truth, in this case, was stranger than fiction. Judith Light was frighteningly evil in her role as the mother in this movie, so much so that it was difficult to separate her from the role, the mark I think of an excellent performance. Rick Schroder was appropriately clueless as her son who also defended her in court, an example of how hard it can be in some circumstances for a child to accept the actions of a parent, no matter how criminal they may be. One can find fault with the movie, but not with its treatment of the reality on which it was based.

While I don't normally like these types of formulaic films on LMN, this one works thanks to Judith Light. She is extremely believable as over-protective and rather sociopath mother, Diana Donahue, the last woman, according to "Crimelibrary", to be executed by the electric chair in California.

She basically sends her son through law school, and at first seems to have only his best intentions as her concern. When he later begins dating a nurse (Sarah Trigger) the pathology starts as Mrs. Donahure realizes she is now losing her son for good to a new wife.

If you enjoy this type of story you may also like "Mother Love" shown on PBS with Diana Rigg. A film made in the early 90's concerning a similar storyline, both very well done with good performances.

If there are people that don't like this movie, I don't think they are human. This film deploys all emotions and shows many sides of Judith Light's character. Made in 1997, this is one of the best movies I have seen and really the film that Judith Light has starred in to make me a huge fan of hers. This movie, although sometimes you want to rattle the son for trusting her so much, is incredibly moving. I cry at the end every time and it takes much to do that to me! The plot doesn't have much to it but the acting provided by Judith Light is incredible. She looks beautiful the whole time and by the end, you don't want the fate imposed by the courts to happen to her. Overall, a movie worth my highest praise! Thank you for making it and redefining my view on the death penalty. I eagerly await this movie to come out on DVD or some other form of media since Lifetime is starting to issue some movies to customers. Although I don't have high hopes for this one because this took place almost 9 years ago, which is still hard to believe, since this movie is STILL ingrained into my head after all this time.

I suppose like most of you, I use this site to scope movies I might hear about, to see if I'd like to watch, or to fill-in gaps from some I might only catch in-part - and to read others' comments (which are at times better than the flicks.

With respect to the film, though, I would simply say the the first-listed comment (by "captnhook13") coincides precisely with my thoughts about this movie.

I'd simply add, that between Light's sociopathic actions and dialogs with regard to her son (Schroder) and his weak, naive, mealy-mouth schlepping about -- I kept wishing Moe from The Three Stooges would suddenly appear on-screen, and commence slapping them around, bopping them in their heads with a mallet, and squeezing their noses -- the way he did so often to Curly and Larry. In "The Shining," Jack Nicholson was more likable, after he went bonkers, than Light is here.

If you want to have an interesting mind trip -- with Schroder nearly 30 in this film -- ponder what would be in a prequel, detailing for a couple of hours Ricky's character in his childhood and teen years with this mom!