Terror in der Familie – Eine Tochter läuft Amok (TV Movie 1996)

Terror in der Familie – Eine Tochter läuft Amok: Directed by Gregory Goodell. With Joanna Kerns, Dan Lauria, Hilary Swank, Andrew Kavovit. A portrait of a dysfunctional 1990s suburban family, where behind closed doors, alcohol and rebellion are hidden inside the lie of perfection. 15-year-old Deena’s sleazy, twisted boyfriend is believed–at first–to be the cause.

“Hilary Swank is obviously a very good actress, but her casting here presents a problem: as a rebellious suburban teen with an anger management problem, Swank isnu0026#39;t too convincing as a malicious liar and conniver. This pedantic TV-made drama hopes to show how some parents attempt to substitute personal problems or an estranged marriage by turning their kids into pals (instead of helping them become responsible people). It has many intense moments of family conflict, yet Swank is too clean-cut, too brainy and well-wrought as a person to match up with this mercurial character. As her parents, Joanna Kerns and Dan Lauria have some very fine scenes, but Kerns (playing an alcoholic) is given too many not-so-subtle u0026quot;sipping her wineu0026quot; close-ups, and this particular needy mom (whose own mother was abusive–-these patterns repeat!) isnu0026#39;t quite convincing either: she seems to go downhill awfully fast (after the obligatory u0026#39;fixing dinneru0026#39; scenes) and her background and relationship with her sister is left too vague. The melodramatic music score is obtrusive and obnoxious, underlining every emotion to the nth-degree and signaling the traumas far in advance. However, for a television film the narrative is tight and, after a poor opening (including a tatty flashback frame, the kind that never works), the movie improves and does try to solve its dilemmas carefully without too much hand-holding.”