Tree of Hands

For a TV movie, this one was very good. A woman's son dies and due to some awful circumstances, she ends up taking care of a little boy who looks alot like her dead son. I won't spoil the ending here, but the plot moves along at a nice pace and the film has a really nice ending. If you like drama, this is a nice one. I wish I could find the film on tape. Lifetime cable channel has been known to rerun it from time to time, but the film has been renamed Innocent Victim for some unknown reason. I like the original title better. This film was based on the novel "Tree of Hands" by Ruth Rendell.

"Innocent Victim" (1989) is a low-budget British adaptation of the Ruth Rendell novel "Tree Of Hands", which was later used as the basis for the French film "Betty Fisher and Other Stories" (2001). This earlier film is not as effective, or as well-organized (despite having fewer characters), as the later version, and it is flatly, unimaginatively directed by Giles Foster (mostly a television director). It still remains watchable, largely thanks to a committed performance by the underrated Helen Shaver, and the brief star-power turn of Lauren Bacall. Katie Hardie is also convincing as the "loose" Carol. **1/2 out of 4.