THE WRONG MOTHER/I WANT MY BABIES BACK!
TV Movie (2017)
BASIC PLOT:
A disturbed woman, Vanessa Renzi, (
Brooke Nevin) hunts down the family who received her egg donation. She plans on reclaiming 'her family', the twins she believes belong to her, and the man who fathered them. If the woman who gave birth to them, Kaylene (
Vanessa Marcil), gets in her way, Vanessa will do whatever it takes to keep 'her' family together. Whatever it takes....
WHAT WORKS:
*
Vanessa Marcil and
Stephen Snedden do an excellent job as Kaylene and Drew, parents to
Zoey (
Arden Richardson) and Toby (
Cooper Dodson). There's family chemistry between these actors, and this makes the story so much more believable. Nothing here seems forced, and these people seem to really care for one another.
*
Elizabeth Bond does an
exemplary job as Samantha, Kaylene's tough-as-nails best friend. She epitomizes the no-nonsense fly in Vanessa's ointment.
*
Mykel Shannon Jenkins gives a first rate portrayal of Detective Dawkins, the hard nosed cop, who can smell something is not right.
WHAT DOESN'T WORK:
*The family life is a bit too saccharine, no one is that happy. The chemistry between the actors makes this more forgivable, but in places, it's a bit much. The dog's name is 'Pickles' for Pete's sake.
*The BMW Samantha drives would have a built in alarm system, it's completely unbelievable Vanessa would be able to access it.
*Kaylene calls the police when Vanessa tries to drowned her in the pool. Why does she not call Detective Dawkins, who is familiar with the situation? Why does the responding officer not call Detective Dawkins, who's now had two cases connected to Kaylene? When the officer ran the principals names, Detective Dawkins' cases would pop up, and he would be contacted. This is a pretty big plot hole.
PERSONAL NOTE:
I HATE movies that burn houses down. It's usually COMPLETELY unnecessary, (as it is here), and adds NOTHING to the plot. I know, I know, this is a visual metaphor for Vanessa's mental state, but it's not believable. Women tend not to destroy, or even make a mess when they kill themselves. Even with murder/suicides, women tend to use poison/water/etc., means that don't destroy the body.
TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION:
*IF you can understand the art form that is melodrama, and you like that type of entertainment, you'll like this. If you are looking for lots of believable characters and motives in your TV movies, then give this a pass.
CLOSING NOTES:
*This is a Made-For-TV movie, please keep that in mind before you watch\rate it. TV movies have a much lower budget, and so your expectations should be adjusted.
*I have no connection to the film, or production in ANY way. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews. Hope I helped you out.
