The Tie That Binds

Awfully familiar thriller stuff that takes longer to play out than it should and ends with a particularly overdone, overextended climax. The performances are generally good and there are a few bits of imaginative camerawork, but the familiarity of the material proves to be overwhelming. The film has no personality, and most of the scenes seem to be just copies of similar events in other thrillers. (*1/2)

Thoroughly repugnant and wretched melodrama has the foster couple to a little girl terrorized by the child's psychopathic biological parents, who are on the lam from the police. Warped, irresponsible picture with thriller aspirations is more stupid than suspenseful. Director Wesley Strick seems to have fallen asleep at the wheel, how else to explain the piling up of one ludicrous situation atop another? Stars Daryl Hannah and Keith Carradine can't even scrape together the semblance of believability within this context, and both are at a loss (as the "innocents", Moira Kelly and Vincent Spano don't have it quite as bad, but their general lack of charisma puts them at a disadvantage regardless). Tiresome, unsubtle junk. NO STARS from ****

A good film, well acted with a good storyline - until the end that is! In the final 20 minutes or so, the scriptwriters obviously suspended logical actions of the characters in favour of a more dramatic and visual finale. Too bad, because this would have been an otherwise excellent film. Also, the inclusion of a real version of "Mr. Flip Flop" leading the little girl to the villain was unnecessarily cruel.

After robbing a house, the criminals Leann Netherwood (Daryl Hannah) and John Netherwood (Keith Carradine) stumble with the police and they need to flee, leaving their six year-old daughter Janie (Julia Devin) behind. Janie is sent for adoption and the photographer Dana Clifton (Moira Kelly) and husband, the architect Russell Clifton (Vincent Spano), adopt her and give love to the traumatized girl. Meanwhile Leann and John begin a crime spree trying to find their daughter to take her back. "The Tie that Binds" is an effective low-budget thriller with a good story. The screenplay is well developed and builds tension, but unfortunately the conclusion is very poor. My vote is six. Title (Brazil): "Laços Diabólicos" ("Diabolic Ties")