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Kellie Martin plays a girl who sees her face (a baby photo) on the back of a milk carton, and finds out about her mysterious past. It's a good movie, but the book series by Caroline Cooney is much better. They are more mysterious with more attention paid to detail. Of course, they had to cram in two books' worth of material into an hour and a half movie. And for some reason, the characters' names are different in the movie than in the books and some characters are changed or left out altogether. It's good time filler, with strong performances by Kellie Martin, Sharon Lawrence and Jill Clayburgh especially.

You really have to read the book to understand why hair color was so important to this story. The four fiction books are not based on a true story. In the storyline, the unique red hair color was the link that connected Janie to her biological family. The movie was excellent although the movie combined the first two books. There have since been two more stories; a total of four books exist in this series. They are terrific books.

The movie starts like a sort of mystery/thriller,when Janie pursues the truth about her past. Along the middle we find out what has happened to her and the movie changes into a human drama. I could really identify with Janie here, putting myself in her shoes. How she copes with the very sudden changes in her life really made me think about parents and family relations.

Kellie Martin(Janie) gave a fine performance.Very much recommended.:)

"Face On The Milk Carton" is a very interesting and effective movie with yet another great performance (at least of the ones I've seen anyway) by Kellie Martin, who apparently has retired from acting. It looks like an after-school special, but unlike one, there are no easy answers (except maybe for the final scenes). It doesn't patronize, or try too little or too much, and has characters we truly care about. I would have preferred a different ending. Why? The movie, of course, eventually wants to have it both ways by the end (or should I say, both families?) I think this taking the easy way out. But still, the movie is acceptable as is.

Grade: B+

I liked the books by Caroline B. Cooney better, but the movie wasn't bad. It was actually quite enjoyable as a girl sees herself as a kidnap victim on the back of a milk carton and sets out to find her real family and unlock the secrets of her past. I liked it. Read the books and see the movie, and decide which you like better. I enjoyed them both. I thought the casting was great and the situation very intense and suspenseful, making you think, "What if?"

*** out of ****