Todo por Emily

First, let us try to say some nice things about SAVING EMILY. Annie Bovaird is fine as the cute kid in the title role. Bruce Boxleitner is OK as the concerned male head of household. Keara Johnston is eye catching in her first supporting part. Michael Riley pulls no punches playing the psycho/weirdo ex-hubby. And... OK, that is about all there is.

SAVING EMILY is laughably bad. Very bad. Several questions beg to be asked: Why would Mr. Big ever trust the psycho with $600,000 in the first place? Why would Mr. Big ever bother to physically go to a murder scene? If Emily needs to be saved, then why in the world was Uncle Theo not tested to see if he would be a match?! How could the writer have Emily's mother say about the psycho ex-husband, "this time, I trust him" -- two, three, four times -- and not expect the viewers to laugh?

Saving Emily is pretty hopeless.

This is a typical made-for-TV movie, so holding it to the standards of some major studio production is hardly appropriate. It's not quite as predictable as some reviewers say, although the ending can be seen from a long way off. But the plot keeps the action moving nicely. Michael Riley makes a very good villain--not some menacing, snarling, sadistic uber-villain but a just a typical small-time crook, totally self-centred and certain he's a much cooler person than everyone else who lives in the "square" world. Little Annie Boivaird can be very charming with her heart-melting smile; giving her a little larger part in the film would have been a good idea. Because Alexandra Paul is in front of the camera for most of the film, she should have been rounded out as a character more so we could see her as something more than just the worried mother. You don't want to go out and buy this on DVD, but if it comes up on television, and you have nothing else to do, it's better than a lot else that's on.