When the Bough Breaks

TV Movie
1986
Not Rated
1h 40m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

A Los Angeles psychiatrist testifies for the prosecution in the trial of an accused child molester. Later the defendant, who is out on bail, is found dead in the psychiatrist's office, in wh... Read allA Los Angeles psychiatrist testifies for the prosecution in the trial of an accused child molester. Later the defendant, who is out on bail, is found dead in the psychiatrist's office, in what appears to be a suicide. Shaken, the psychiatrist moves to the mountains outside of L.A... Read allA Los Angeles psychiatrist testifies for the prosecution in the trial of an accused child molester. Later the defendant, who is out on bail, is found dead in the psychiatrist's office, in what appears to be a suicide. Shaken, the psychiatrist moves to the mountains outside of L.A. Not long afterwards a detective he knows comes to him for help. A seven-year-old girl sa... Read all

Director
- Waris Hussein
Writers
- Jonathan Kellerman
- Phil Penningroth
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

YOUR RATING

Director
- Waris Hussein
Writers
- Jonathan Kellerman
- Phil Penningroth
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 2 nominations total

Photos1

User reviews4

6.61K

Featured reviews

Kosh2260

Outstanding!

This movie based upon the Jonathan Kellerman novel of the same name(which introduced the Alex Delaware character) is an outstanding work. The characters are true to the novel, the interaction between Ted Danson's Delaware and Richard Masur's Milo is at times humorous and others deadly serious.

In a bit of Irony, Danson played a Child Psycologist and in the movie "There's Something About Amelia" Danson portrayed a child molester.

7deacon_blues-1

A good adaptation of the Kellerman Novel

Very nicely done for a TV movie. It's a real shame that there aren't more Alex/Milo movie adaptations. God knows we have enough King/Critchton/Grisham/Clancy adaptations to last a lifetime. Danson and Masur are very genuine and accurate in their portrayals of the dynamic dick/shrink duo. Good pathos at the end scene. Direction is rather typical Movie of the Week fair, but it follows the investigation progress and plot twists very lucidly and at a good pace. Supporting cast is rather mediocre, but well suited to the genre. I have rarely seen Danson this serious in a role, and was very surprised at how good he is. Masur is very much Milo, both capture the bantering dialog that is the duo's hallmark. I bought a cheap VHS copy of this on Amazon, and was glad I did. Too bad it's not on DVD. If you like the Alex Delaware mysteries by Jonathan Kellerman, you'll enjoy this!

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Storyline

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Trivia
In the scene where Dr Alex Delaware played by Ted Danson is seated beside the wheelchair bound Professor Van Der Graaf at Jedson College, played by Charles Lane: Lane suddenly stands up from his wheelchair and walks across the room without any difficulty. As Lane steps over Danson to retrieve a book, the open-mouthed, dumbstruck expression on Danson's face is priceless as he looks at Lane, then at the empty wheelchair in bewilderment. Danson is momentarily rattled, then raises his brow, regains his composure and plays along pretending he doesn't notice Lane's blooper. Danson manages to seamlessly complete the remainder of the scene as if nothing unusual has happened.

Goofs
During the chase scene where the black motorcycle is in pursuit of the tan BMW, one segment clearly shows the rear window of the car as having been blown out yet one of the following segments which was shot from inside the car shows the whole window actually disintegrating after being hit by a shot fired from the motorcycle in pursuit.