Another flawed feature with some fine performances, and a few great moments.

The time is June, 1988. Beth Cappadora (Michelle Pfeiffer) has arrived in Chicago for her 15 year high school reunion. Inexplicably, she has brought along her three children with her: 7-year old Vincent (Cory Buck), 3-year old Ben (Michael McElroy), and infant Kerry. Met at the hotel by an old friend with a babysitter, who takes Kerry up to her room, Beth tells Vincent to hold onto Ben while she registers.

When she returns, she finds Vincent, but no Ben. Point of order: Why didn't the babysitter take all three kids?

An exhaustive search of the hotel is undertaken, but by the time Beth's husband, Pat (Treat Williams) appears on the scene from Madison, Wisconsin, it is clear that Ben is lost--probably kidnapped. Even detective Candy Bliss (Whoopi Goldberg) can't produce Ben, despite a considerable effort that includes an elaborate volunteer based phone-in lead program.

After a while, Beth has to return home, and face the prospect of life without Ben. Naturally, this has an effect on the family, and there are too many painfully drawn out scenes that dramatize this.

Fast forward nine years. The family has moved to Chicagoland, where Pat and his father have opened Cappadora's restaurant. Sam (Ryan Merriman), a neighbor boy, comes to the door seeking clientele for his lawn mowing business. Beth is sure that Sam is really the long-lost Ben.

It turns out that he is! Ben was kidnapped at the hotel by a troubled classmate of Beth's attending the reunion, who then re-married. Ben, re-named Sam, was adopted by new her husband George Karras (John Kapelos--wonderful performance), who, of course, suspected nothing. Karras, enduring his wife's suicide a few years earlier, will now lose his son, as well. Talk about an innocent victim.

The Cappadoras are awarded custody of Sam, but the transition is painful. After all, the child has spent far more years as Sam Karras than Ben Cappadora. He regards Karras as "Dad", while the Cappadora parents are "Beth" and "Pat."

What finally makes the pic work is the interaction between the 16-year old Vincent (Jonathan Jackson--film's best perf) and his brother. In the pic's best moment, Sam recalls the incident that began the movie: He is hiding from Vincent in a trunk, but the latch has accidentally shut, and he is locked in. He has no fear, but simply calls for Vincent, who comes and saves him. Vincent verifies that this event truly did occur when Sam/Ben was three.

After running back to Karras' home, and being retrieved by Vincent, who now admits that he told Ben at the hotel to "get lost," rather than watch him carefully, the younger brother decides to move in with the Cappadoras for good. It is clear that this is only because he loves his older brother.

In fact, the effect of the adults is negligible in many ways. Candy Bliss tells Beth that she interviewed Karras' deceased wife, and should have found Ben at that point. For all of Beth's efforts and histrionics, it took pure dumb luck to find her son--but even then, she was merely "Beth," and not "Mom." Pat's role in the drama, obviously trimmed down for the movie's final cut, is virtually non-existent.

One more thing. Michelle Pfeiffer is being praised to the hilt for her perf, which includes a hysteria scene in the hotel. For my money, it is far more difficult to "act" the part of a normal person going through some type of non-extreme emotion, than it is to act drunk, retarded, or psycho.

That's why John Kapelos and Jonathan Jackson get my vote.