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A Cry in the Dark (1988)

Meryl Streep , Sam Neill , Fred Schepisi  |  PG-13 |  DVD
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)

Price: $9.99 & FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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Product Details

  • Actors: Meryl Streep, Sam Neill, Dale Reeves (II), David Hoflin, Jason Reason
  • Directors: Fred Schepisi
  • Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Widescreen, NTSC
  • Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
  • Subtitles: English, French
  • Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
  • Studio: Warner Home Video
  • DVD Release Date: December 21, 1999
  • Run Time: 120 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00002E22E
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,289 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • Learn more about "A Cry in the Dark" on IMDb

Special Features

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Julia Louis-Dreyfus's Elaine on Seinfeld once offered a non sequitur at a party just to relieve her own boredom: "The dingo ate your baby," she blurted in a bad Australian accent. It was a reference to this harrowing film by director Fred Schepisi, based on a true story. Meryl Streep and Sam Neill play a married couple on a camping trip whose baby disappears. Streep maintains that the baby was carried off by a dingo--a wild dog--but she winds up as the victim of a hard-hearted prosecutor and the target of a nationwide hate campaign, in part because she was a religious fundamentalist who seemed unsympathetic and, thus, became an easy target for the tabloid press. Streep and Neill are both outstanding in this fierce, realistic drama about the ways faith can bolster even in the face of outrageous persecution. --Marshall Fine

Product Description

An Australian woman stands trial for the murder of her child, which she claims was stolen by a dingo. Based on a true story.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 3-FEB-2004
Media Type: DVD

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 27 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Streep at her best July 26, 2000
By A Customer
Format:VHS Tape
Meryl Streep is firing on all cylinders in this brilliant portrayal (and movie) of Lindy Chamberlain. I can't believe she didn't get the Oscar for this one. Stripping away all possible mannerisms (twitchy eyes, flighty hands, dramatic pauses) and adopting a steeled gaze, Streep transforms herself into the most dislikable (and fascinating!) victim she has yet played. It's almost as if the bones of her face have been replaced by iron. People alway remark about her accents, but the accent is always the least of her characterizations. Her ability to adopt the look and simply the BEING of her characters is unparalleled. This is really screen acting at its best. And this is a great film, too, for its observations into how an entire culture can become caught up in the guilt or innocence of one person they don't even know (O.J., anyone?)
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39 of 45 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Baby Azaria Saga - The Case that gripped Australia March 31, 2000
Format:VHS Tape
I wish to make a commentry on the Lindy Chamberlain Case in general and in particular what it revealed about Australia as a society - There was not one person in the country who did not have a deeply held opinion on what actually happened to the poor baby on that tragic night in 1980. Rearding the film, I thought it was a work of pure genious. Although I had a deeply held interest in the Case before I saw the film, which makes me biased I suppose, there is no doubt in my mind that Meryl Streep gave her best perfromance to date in this film. She played the part of Lindy Chamberalin so well that attention is soon deflected from Meryl onto Lindy very early on into the film. That was certainly the case for me. Meryl melts so well into her study that you actually forget about Meryl altogether and get totally wrapped up in the plight of this tragic woman who faces the double nightmare of not only losing her baby in horrific circumstances but then facing the trauma of being paraded before an accusing nation for two painful years before finally winding up behind bars for a crome she did not commit, which the blood thirsty, bigoted morbid folk of Australia relished no end. Let me assure people who were not in Australia during this extrordinary period - The Chamberalin Case was not viewed simply as a legal matter to be sorted out in the Courts, rather it was a campaign against those who did not fit the conventional stereotype and who were out of line with mainstream thought. Lindy was merely the symbol of such people It could so easily have been a black person, a gay person etc. As a member of a Religion which most Australians viewed as a dangerous Cult and as a woman who did not act in a way most people viewed as "normal", she did not stand a chance form the very start.... Read more ›
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Movie With A Timeless Theme May 14, 2004
Format:VHS Tape
Michael and Lindy Chamberlain (Sam Neill and Meryl Streep) must endure the double horror of having their infant baby carried off by a dingo and then being convicted in a-- forgive me-- kangaroo court of the child's death. This movie, which grips you early on and never lets you go, sad to say, is based on a true incident that occurred in Australia in 1980. The Chamberlains, who are devout Seventh-Day Adventists, are guilty of being different. They are tried by both the public and media. Hysteria and rumor run rampant while reason and justice get lost in a rush to judgment.

With the possible exception of IRON WEED, Meryl Streep has never made a bad movie. She is perfect here as the mother who has hope against hope that the truth will out and she will be found innocent. With an awful haircut-- the old bowl over your head look-- and the additional weight she apparently gained (she is pregnant during her trial) she manages to almost look plain and frumpy. Sam Neill as her fundamentalist minister husband gives an outstranding performance as well. The scenes of the Australian outback are beautiful.

The theme is timeless: too often to be different is to be evil. If you are different, then you are not a person; and I can ignore the evidence and find you guilty of heinous crimes. Unfortunately, the Austalians in 1980 were not unique in this disease. One only has to remember the recent debacle of innocent inmates on death row in Illinois who were found to be innocent with new DNA evidence. Then there's Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in the 1950's. There's still questions about whether they were guilty of the crimes for which they were executed. The list goes on and on.

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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling August 30, 2003
Format:DVD
"Cry In the Dark" is based on a true story about a disappearing baby. The mother maintains her claim that a dingo carried her baby daughter through the woods and killed her. As the country listens, rumors circulate that she killed her baby. The family either stays tighter knit or almost separates. Much drama occurs during the turmoil of losing a family member and being called the antichrist. Regardless of what's said in interviews, no one listens.

Meryl Streep deserved her eighth Oscar nomination for Best Actress as the accused mother. Streep gives much of her own nightmare thoughts into the screen. Just her expressed emotions are enough to give the audience chills while causing them to almost cry. Sam Neill gives the best performance of his career as the accusee's husband. All 350 acting extras also give great performance.

The writers greatly informed the audience of the real events. It digs deep into every characters' raw emotions. The director and the producers wonderfully led the cast and crew to their highest potential. This is one of the top ten best movies released in 1988. Its compelling theme will leave the audience with a sense of joy by the movie's end.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A Cry for Justice
This is a powerful and true story that should serve as a cautionary tale against religious intolerance and media sensationalism. Read more
Published 14 days ago by Joseph P. Tevington
4.0 out of 5 stars True and Gripping Story of Legal Injustice in Australia
Although A CRY in the DARK may be a little slow-moving for some tastes, this docu-drama realistically shows the complexities of how a wrongful prosecution for infanticide can occur... Read more
Published 20 days ago by Doug Park
2.0 out of 5 stars Bad sound
The picture was fine, but the sound was horrible. We had to have the volume of the TV all the way up and still had trouble hearing them speak during the movie.
Published 1 month ago by Monique Payne
3.0 out of 5 stars Tape
Unfortunatly this tape did not work as it was defective. It was wrapped as a new tape so there was no way the sender could have known it was defective. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Jack Frain
5.0 out of 5 stars Actors' Awards Nomination.
From the Award winning book Evil Angels, the true story of the killing of 9 week old Azaria Chamberlain by a pack of wild dingoes and the jailing of her innocent mother for her... Read more
Published 2 months ago by John N B Bryson
4.0 out of 5 stars MERYL DOES IT AGAIN
MS STREEP'S PERFORMANCE AS A DISTRESSED MOTHER IS SO HUMAN THAT ONE FEELS THAT SHE IS NOT ON IN A FILM BUT TAKES HER AUDIENCE INTO HER JOURNEY THROUGH HELL AS WELL AS ENGAGING THE... Read more
Published 2 months ago by jimi
5.0 out of 5 stars Good product
I was looking all over for this movie. I finally got this used copy and it was great! Happy I could finally see this movie. Spoiler alert: The dingo ate the baby.
Published 3 months ago by Peggy Malone
5.0 out of 5 stars Oldie but goodie
Very good movie , Meryl Streep was excellent as usual in her role as Lindy Chamberlain, one of the better movies of the 60's 70's
Published 3 months ago by Julie Foster
5.0 out of 5 stars media frenzy
A true story of innocence conflicted with the power of the press to distort the truth. The legal aftermath of the tragic loss of a child was too much to fathom. Read more
Published 5 months ago by annie
5.0 out of 5 stars Great film!
I think a lot of the initial negative publicity about this film stemmed from the fact in the 1980s many people refused to believe a wild dog could take a baby and kill it. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Joseph D. Price
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