Le chemin de l'espoir

I watched this purely because Linda Hamilton was in it, and the moment I found out it was based on a true story I knew it would suck. The entire movie follows Hamilton, she is in every scene and without her presence the whole thing would suck. Not that it sucks already. There was no excitement, no adrenaline rushes - it was just bad.

I have seen this film several times on Channel 5 in the UK in the last few years, and have found myself stumbling across it again today. It reminded me just how enjoyable (if you can use that word in this instance) the film is to watch. It's moments focussing on the different agonies of Linda Hamilton's character lead to peaks and troughs in the flow of the movie - making it a roller coaster of a film that isn't your typical.

Sure it has it's weaknesses-it is prone to it's corny moments, but I find that this adds to the enjoyment of this particular film. The voice-overs by Linda Hamilton also have the potential to irritate but I find them quite soothing/calming and they definitely add something to understanding her character. Maybe it is the accent!

Boring can most aptly describe this drama of sorts that follows Linda Hamilton as she preaches about why men are bad (her kids are taken from her abusive husband and she "learns" from this).

It's also quite corny, with bad voice-over monologues that are the sort of unnecessary, lazy techniques that Robert McKee preaches about.

Some work and some don't. This doesn't.

Hamilton has admittedly purposely done these made-for-TV movies because she wants to stray away from Hollywood.

She has succeeded - and they suck.

The young good looking fellow that plays "Skip the Rookie", I feel steals the scene he is in with Linda Hamilton. I thought the movie was very good, the down side was that "Skip" was not in any other scenes in the movie, nor is he credited. If anyone knows this guys name or if he has done any other work, please post it. It's young actors like "Skip" that make TV movies not just good but really, really, good!! I was struck that such a young and untested "rookie" could make such a "from the heart" comment to Rachel and that she seemed to understand his dislike for his brother, and that he truly would have done anything to help Rachel find this child or her own children..."Skips" performance really tugs at your heart!

I'm just getting my breath back after holding it for too long watching this movie! Certainly one of the best I've ever seen, even for a made-for-tv film.

The parallels between 'life' and tracking work well, the acting was top drawer, the scenery magnificent. I can only think the negative reviews here are from insensitive clods, so if you're an insensitive clod don't bother.

The pacing is deliberately 'andante' to match the subject. And the dual ending keeps the tension right to the end. Thought provoking. I've just watched it after finding it on YouTube. Wherever you find it, well worth 90 minutes. Make quite a contrast to some of the dire cr-p produced these days.