Il passato di una sconosciuta

THE SITTER/WHILE THE CHILDREN SLEEP (TV Movie 2007)

BASIC PLOT: Meghan Eastman (Gail O'Grady) is going back to work, and needs a nanny for her two children. Her husband, Carter Eastman (William R. Moses), also works full time as a lawyer, and they both need someone to help out. At first, Abby Reed (Mariana Klaveno) seems like a godsend, but for unknown reasons, everyone around the Eastman's become suspicious of her. Abby is someone to be feared, can the Eastman's figure out why, before it's too late?

WHAT WORKS: *The husband, Carter Eastman (William R. Moses), is a bit of a spoiled jackass. His career comes first, and he expects his wife to drop her clients, to celebrate his professional victories. He's always a bit peeved, because his wife is busy with work. In his mind, she's not attentive to his needs, and the children, because she's too focused on her career. Nevermind the fact, he's just as busy with his own. This is a believable storyline, that plays out in households across the USA every day.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: *No one in this movie is likable. There's not one character you care or sympathize with. The husband is a misogynistic tool, the wife is petulant and selfish, even the kids are brats. The ancillary characters are horrible too. The neighbor Mel, is a shrew, her son Tom is a peeper, Carter's friend Tate is a sexual predator, someone please nuke this neighborhood!

*The family take to Abby (Mariana Klaveno) way to quickly. There's no awkward transition as everyone adjusts, and there always is one.

*Why is a college graduate working as a nanny, and not using her degree? Why don't the parents ask this question? Did they even check her references?

*Why does Shawna (Stacy Haiduk), Meghan's friend, suddenly become suspicious of Abby, when the movie is 2/3's over? Nothing new has happened to make her suspicious. Characters need motivations to make their actions believable. Abby doesn't do anything to make anyone wary of her, but out of the blue, no one trusts her anymore. Why?

*Why does the neighbor, Mel Olson (Joanne Baron) not trust Abby from day one? The only thing that should give Mel pause is her peeping Tom son (Thomas Curtis), spying on Abby as she undresses at night. That's not Abby's fault, so why is Mel so suspicious? She's basically obsessed with this girl, and there's no real reason given.

*The husband is too clueless. This nanny is throwing herself at him, and he's blind to it. No one is that stupid.

*The orphanage Abby grew up in gives out personal information to Shawna. This is not just improbable, but illegal.

*The reason Abby is obsessed with this family is some kind of stalker syndrome, it is never explained properly. It doesn't make sense, and Abby's motivations remain unclear.

TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: *I cannot recommend this movie. It has a quality cast, but the script makes it unwatchable. It's a terrible remake of 1La mano sulla culla (1992)" It's not bad because it's a remake, low budget, or because it's a made-for-tv movie. It's bad because the writing never develops any of the characters, or their motivations. I didn't think it would be possible to make Gail O'Gradyunlikable, but this movie somehow achieves it.

CLOSING NOTES: *This is a Made-For-TV movie, please keep that in mind before you watch\rate it. TV movies have a much lower budget, and so your expectations should be adjusted.

*I have no connection to the film, or production in ANY way. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews. Hope I helped you out.

This version of a demented female who is out for the husband of another woman is so predictable from start to finish. In fact I selected the three people who would be sacrificed in the beginning. No surprise. I blame inept writing by Stephen Niver and bland performances for this. Sometimes it's so silly and stupid you wonder how some of the people in this ever made it out the door.

William Moses once more plays the bland husband who not only doesn't have a clue, but goes around denying all the accusations he's got a nut case watching his children. He was perfectly cast as I have yet to see this actor show any level of emotion in any of his work. Add Gail O'Grady as his wife who also hasn't a clue as to what is happening around her. She falls down the stairs fine and more than once. Duh. The kids played by Madison Davenport and Tristan Leabu don't do too much except call for mommy and daddy throughout the movie.

I did like Stacey Haiduk as the friend of the wife. She at least had some moments and showed a bit of emotion. Joanne Baron also I liked but for her stupidity at leaving her house wide open for anyone to enter, and they do - enough said. Her kid played by a vacant headed Thomas Curtis didn't do too much except ogle at the baby sitter. This is acting? Jon Lindstrom didn't have too much to do., but did what he could with a thankless role. Good to see him work in anything, even this loser.

Finally we come to the baby sitter psycho played very badly by a Mariana Klaveno who I've never heard of. She was just plain awful in this. One expression of always pouting and glaring at everyone. She's not a looker with a skinny body and flat chested and hard to believe anyone would even want to lust after her. The scene where she takes her top off for the kid next door to see was so funny as when she did, nothing was underneath to look at.

I give this a zero on all counts and good wishes to Lindstrom, Hiaduk and Baron in getting better scripts and parts. Sorry.

this movie delivers. the best is when the awkward teenage neighbor tries to bike away from the babysitter and in the background looks like he's never been anywhere near a bike in his life as he attempts not to fall off.

but this movie doesn't stop there, when less than 5 minutes later it delivers a scene of nothing but an arm reaching through a fence and into a cooler pulling out a beer.

stereotypical grilling dads, several plot lines that go nowhere, and a former seaQuest actress with a bluetooth cell phone all add up to making this the perfect Saturday night at home.

This wasn't too bad a movie about a psychotic babysitter who moves in with a family to infiltrate herself with bad intentions. If you have seen other similar movies, you can probably figure out the plot and what will happen along the way, though the performances are good, especially the leads. It delivers some good laughs and shocks but overall wasn't too impressive.

** out of ****

If you have plenty of time to waste ... it's OK. It moves at a good pace but to pull this movie off it would need to be a little longer with a little more background on the sitter.

The acting is OK. Mariana Klaveno as the sitter does the best job and is the most believable.

William R. Moses played a pretty good part as the husband.

Gail O'Grady, as the wife, had a weak part and the reasons for her going back to work were not developed.

The ending is sort of silly. Like most of these sitter movies ... there are parts that are interesting ... but overall it leaves you wondering why you spent the time.