Customer Reviews

God Bless the Child

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If I had known in advance that this was a movie about the plight of the homeless, I might not have watched it. I'm so glad I did. A wonderful movie about about a loveable little girl and a loving mother in a terrible (but unfortunately not uncommon) predicament.

This movie made me feel joy, sorrow, frustration, compassion and anger. The story begins with a wife that is deserted by her husband. She and her daughter are left alone to fend for themselves. The mother is very responsible and certainly does her best to deal with very difficult circumstances. You feel her pain over her struggle to provide even the most basic needs for her and her daughter. I needed a bigger box of tissues for this one.

Mare Winningham, one of most versatile and gifted actresses in the business today, is memorable in this telefilm from the late 80's. As other reviewers have stated, this is a real tearjerker for it reveals the trials and tribulations of a single parent trying to cope in a society that is filled with bureaucracy red tape that ultimately works against her.

Grace Johnston is also a triumph as Winningham's young daughter, Hillary. It is hard to imagine that she is an actress playing a part; so realistic is her portrayal. Dorian Harewood makes a small but pivotal appearance as the social worker assigned Winningham's case.

The film ends on a less-than-cheerful note that only reinforces the desperation of Winningham's situation.

A truly powerful film is "God Bless the Child."

I recently saw this movie and watched it in a large co-ed group...It was so moving that the men had tears in their eyes. "God Bless the Child" is truly a touching movie that every american should see.
It is about a mother, Theresa, and her young daughter Hillary. They live in a large city, and when they get kicked out of their soon-to-be razed apartment building, they take to the homeless shelters. Theresa loses her job and the two run out of money. Soon they are living off what little food they can they recieve from others and sleeping on dirty cots in shelters.
A social worker finds a small house for Theresa and Hillary in a bad neighborhood. Theresa is overjoyed to be living in a house despite the rats that overrun it. Hillary makes friends with a girl next door and all is well until Theresa makes a complaint about the rats to the Health Department. She gets kicked out of her house by the landlord, and again takes Hillary to the shelters. However, Hillary soon develops a severe sickness and is taken to the hospital.
Theresa soon realizes that she will never be able to provide for her daughter the life that she wants Hillary to have. After speaking with the social worker, she makes a heart-breaking decision, that will change the course of Hillary's life forever.
I give this movie two thumbs up...it will open your eyes to those less fortunate than yourself and give you a better understanding of poverty in America.

This video is a great illustration of the complex systems at work for and against single mothers. It is gritty and realistic. It taught me and some graduate students a thing or two about family hardship.

This movie was shown to me in school, it is very sad and just makes me want to help people more. I loved it except the ending was undecided which makes me wonder what happend to Hillary and Theresa in the end. This coming January I hope to venture to the Dorothy Day Center in the cities to feed the homeless in my comunity. If you want to help them call your local church service. I recommend this movie to you, it's best to watch it around Christmas time because it will help you to realize that you are very lucky to have everything you have like, christmas presents, a tree, a warm home, and a hot chirstmas dinner. Happy Holidays and God Bless.

This is a riveting, heartwrenching account into a cycle of the "system" working against a mother who desperately tries to keep the only thing she treasures above all--her child. It is an indictment (without being preachy) of a system that won't work for her.

I first saw this movie when it appeared on TV, and I have never forgotten it. I am thrilled to own a copy which I use as a teaching material in conjunction with reading Herman Melville's "What Redburn Saw in Launcelott's-Hey."

I Thought this movie was very uplifting.It shows the plight of the world. It shows us how the other half lives and what its like to be homeless and have nothing. I just thought it was a fabulous movie and would love to add it to my collection.

This is an outstanding, realistic picture on the downward spiral of homelessness. Mare Winningham stars as Teresa Johnson, a single mother working a low paying job, who is forced from her apartment when it is set for demolition. Without the means to get another apartment and with no family or friends to allow her and her daughter to stay with them, Teresa and her daughter are forced into homeless shelters. The film shows a steady decline in Teresa in her daughter even after becoming homeless. She soon loses her job because she has to leave work early to get on a waiting list for a shelter and must get on welfare. Unfortunately, even this doesn't stop her decline. At times Teresa and her daughter must sleep in doorways and park benches. The entire cast in movie gives a exemplary performance. I'm particulary expressed with the young Grace Johnston, who plays Teresa's daughter Hillary. Her portrayal of a young child living on the streets is hauntingly realistic. In one scene, Teresa describes for social worker (Dorian Harewood)life on the streets. "We stay in places where you're afraid to fall asleep. We eat food no one else wants. We spend all day walking the streets with no place to go. People look at us like we're trash. They don't want to stand next to us. They don't want to talk to us. They don't even want to know we're there." There are no happy endings here. The film simply makes the viewers ask themselves, "What would I do if I had to face this?" The saddest part of this moviie is that this situation could happen to any of us.

es una hermoza historia, k nos hace apreciar mas lo k tenemos y agradecer a Dios por todo. ademas k podemos aprender tolerancia y sobre todo caridad, que es la ayuda desinteresada para los menos favoresidos.