Where Are the Children?

A moody, atmospheric thriller based on a novel by Mary Higgins Clark, with Jill Clayburgh in the lead as a woman-with-a-past who just might have murdered her own children. Max Gail (remember him from *Barney Miller*?) has a thankless role as her husband; but the real treat is that under-rated chameleon of an actor, Frederic Forrest, who will probably be remembered as the best character actor of his generation. Besides Forrest, the most memorable character here is the setting--a small New England village on a lush autumn day with a storm brewing. How wonderful it would be to have Max and Jill's house . . ..

This movie is extremely boring and very slow-moving. It is also rather discontinuous and disjointed. The acting isn't terrible, but the lack of plot movement ruins any effort. Badly in need of better editing. The worst movie I've ever seen.

Abysmal adaptation of the Mary Higgins Clark mystery novel stars Jill Clayburgh in the sad-sack role of a woman whose two young children have been kidnapped right off their property in Cape Cod--exactly nine years after Clayburgh's first two children from a previous marriage were abducted and later found dead, with Jill as the main suspect. Perhaps staying true to Clark's book, the decision to have a storm hovering over the town for nearly the entire duration of the film dampens everything: the kidnapping, the search, the heroine's neuroses, her second husband's confusion. Had the finale offered up something interesting other than a cookie-cutter showdown (in the rain!), this lackluster suspenser might have been saved. Alas, the whole thing is a big wet blanket, giving Clayburgh and her co-stars absolutely nothing to play. NO STARS from ****

This movie is straight out of the 1980s. The mother is ridiculous in her interactions. Everyone, not just the villain, appeared to be mentally ill. The entire movie was shot during a rainstorm, which furthered the craziness. There wasn't anything about the movie that was really R other than the subject matter.