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Reviews
Kids Like These (1987)
A real story with a real message
I found this movie a very affecting presentation of what it would be like to face having a Down Syndrome child. With the leads being Tyne Daly and Richard Crenna, you can be assured of a story about real people and real feelings. I didn't find it sentimental at all but rather a pretty realistic picture of how developmentally challenged people are sometimes ridiculed and misunderstood. This is a story of hope and meeting challenges and letting love lead the way. I didn't cry (which I often do when Tyne Daly is the lead) until the little boy on his own called the people with the new Downs baby to tell them what to expect because he had been "living" it for a long time. This is a hard movie to find because it has never been released on American VHS, but if you can find a copy, I would heartily recommend it as a testimony to the human spirit and the progress that education has brought.
Face of a Stranger (1991)
the amazing Tyne Daly!
Although this is Gena Rowlands' movie, and she does a beautiful job of crafting a society woman with a brave, humanitarian heart, to me the movie belonged to Tyne Daly. This woman continues to amaze me in everything she does. I found myself wondering how she so ably captured the look, posture, speech patterns and outbursts of this mentally disturbed woman. We ache for Dollie as we get some flashbacks into what caused her to lose the life she once had. She inhabits her pain like the heavy, shapeless coat she wears all through the movie. With these two strong actresses, the friendship does not seem unlikely at all. I also liked the fact that the movie did not turn into a diatribe about the plight of the homeless, but rather left one with the thought that, as Pat tells the unsympathetic doorman, "we are all just one step away."
Fugitive Family (1980)
emphasis on the word family
At first glance, this might seem to be a companion movie to Tom Sizemore's "Witness Protection," but the emphasis is really more on the family and their reaction to having to go into the witness protection program. I'm sure most of us have thought at one time or another how wrenching it would be to have to leave your entire life, family, and friends and never see them again, and this movie captures that despair pretty well. Each member of the family is shown adjusting, with only the little boy eager about the move. Richard Crenna is always so wonderful playing father figures; his performance rings true as always. Diane Baker has long been underappreciated, I think, and here she has all the concerns of a homemaker being uprooted. This movie is well above average for a made-for-TV movie, including many foreign scenes that look authentic. I would definitely recommend it if you can find a copy, especially if you are as fond of Richard Crenna as I am.