I had high hopes for this, considering the actors involved and the fact that it was produced by HBO. But I couldn't believe how badly made it was.
This should have been an emotionally wrenching story of a woman coming to grips with the fact that she was repeatedly raped as a child by an adult she trusted. Instead, it plays more like an ABC After School Special. None of the characters have any depth or layers. I felt as if I were watching a rehearsal for the finished film. One of the problems is in the writing. Scenes just seem to exist for the purpose of conveying information, but no one seems invested. Viewers should be terrified and repulsed by Jason Ritter's character, but I found him to be dull and predictable. Even Ellen Burstyn appears to be picking up a paycheck and nothing else. Only John Heard, in the film's only honest moment at the end, comes off as real. I cared about what was going through his mind. All the other scenes were like those bad industrial films they showed you in high school.
The director (and writer), Jennifer Fox, has no point of view. And that's the main problem. Had a more competent director and writer helmed this project, I may have felt what these characters were supposed to feel - completely drained at the end. Instead, I felt like an important story was given the Cliffs Notes version.
This should have been an emotionally wrenching story of a woman coming to grips with the fact that she was repeatedly raped as a child by an adult she trusted. Instead, it plays more like an ABC After School Special. None of the characters have any depth or layers. I felt as if I were watching a rehearsal for the finished film. One of the problems is in the writing. Scenes just seem to exist for the purpose of conveying information, but no one seems invested. Viewers should be terrified and repulsed by Jason Ritter's character, but I found him to be dull and predictable. Even Ellen Burstyn appears to be picking up a paycheck and nothing else. Only John Heard, in the film's only honest moment at the end, comes off as real. I cared about what was going through his mind. All the other scenes were like those bad industrial films they showed you in high school.
The director (and writer), Jennifer Fox, has no point of view. And that's the main problem. Had a more competent director and writer helmed this project, I may have felt what these characters were supposed to feel - completely drained at the end. Instead, I felt like an important story was given the Cliffs Notes version.