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.