Customer Reviews

The Lost Child

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Adopted by a middle aged Jewish couple and doted on by her mother young Rebecca Hoffman leads a conventional life. Then her mother dies and her father remarries. In his new marriage there is no room for Rebecca. She is one to be tolerated. She no longer has a home. Years later Rebecca searches for her birth parents and comes to the realization that she is not white nor Jewish. Rebecca is Navajo.

Lost Child is a film based on the the autobiography, Looking For Lost Bird, by Yvette Melanson. In this picture we see the life of a child stolen from her birth parents and made to assume a new identity. Her adoptive father's reluctance to have her, her feeling of isolation and her quest to find her identity is both moving and tragic as we see a young woman so far from her home.

Mercedes Ruehl plays a sensitive and savy Rebecca who tries so hard to be accepted by her adoptive father. Her discovery of her Navajo roots gives her comfort and a sense of completion. Yet, she too and her family undergo some heartaches and challenges as she returns home. This movie shows the hope of a mother seeking a reunion of her children. We witness the reintergration of a woman back to her heritage. We also see the ugly side of cultural prejudice as her daughters attempt to fit in with their new family and culture.

This is an enjoyable film that is a sanitized version of the book. Everyone in the picture is so good, so noble to the point of being unbelievable. Of course everything works itself out and the family lives happily ever after. If only life could be that simple. Inspite of that Lost Child is well worth your seeing as you get a glimpse into another culture.

This is a very heart warming movie about coming home. It reinforces the strong family bonds even through years of separation. It explores the need to stand up against unhealthy traditions in a changing world, as well as, traditions which can help define who we are in an ever changing world.

Such conflict within my soul! Oh the torment! On one hand, the acting in this TV movie is just excellent. Mercedes Ruehl, the lead, is wonderful as Rebecca, as is her husband (Jamey Sheridan), the ever good-lookin Ned Romero as her dad, and Julia McIlvaine as her eldest daughter. So that makes it hard for me to say that the casting ruined the movie.

I simply could *not* get past the fact that Ruehl is supposed to be a full-blood Dine. I was so confused when I found out that neither her mom nor dad was white--I assumed the character was half-white. Maybe possibly sorta kinda (given the unpredictability of genetics) Ruehl could pass as half-Dine', but even that's pushing it. She isn't Native at all, although she could certainly `pass' as a quarter. But not Navajo! (For that matter, a bunch of the Indian actors don't look Navajo at all, but I can get past that because it's so normal (Irene Bedard has played a Navajo role a zillion times, but even she and the other sisters, including the awesome Tamara Podemski, look nothing alike). Even worse, the girl who plays the young Rebecca looks so white that it's jarring to see her in a shot with her birth mother, all while knowing that her dad is supposed to be Ned Romero (who does look Navajo in his old age). I would also complain about casting Julia McIlvaine as her elder daughter, who clearly isn't half Dine' but rather could've stepped right off the Nina, the Pinta, or the Santa Maria (the younger daughter could presumably have just gotten 80% recessive genes, but she wasn't very convincing either). But this is based on a true story, and indeed, I do know mixed-race families where someone impossibly comes out with blondish hair (like my cousin)...and then there are all those 1/128 blonde Cherokees, of course. But STILL! So hard to get past. And, as great as Mercedes Ruehl was, there are plenty of excellent Native actresses her age who could've been casted instead. Why not Sheila Tousey? She could have totally pulled off this character (and is light-skinned enough to be convincingly racially ambiguous in her prior life). Enough complaining, but I hate that I can't put this on my Good Indian Movies list (see my Listmania) because of this glaring problem. Tragic! Indeed!

On the other hand, because this is based on a true story, there's a great deal of non-Hollywood realism here that I really appreciated. Aside from the totally cheesy Hallmark soundtrack and Wise Indian Elder lines they made Tantoo Cardinal say, the relationships and family dynamics played out with such genuineness, and that's what really makes you care about the story. The cultural dissonance played out really effectively, too, and had enough tension to make you feel it and invest in the characters more. (Although--I felt that some of that dissonance was presented in too much of a one-sided way and could make white viewers see Navajo culture in a negative light.) I'm torn (oh woe!) on the last positive, too...I thought they presented a really broad sense of life on that particular rez from the average school to the community center, but there were also times when I also felt they were kinda making things seem more `exotic' than they really are. I mean, where were the schoolkids listening to rap? Where was the bingo? But as a whole, I thought the story was engaging and well told. I'd be interested in checking out the book.

This is probably the best Native American movie I have ever watched. The story is so true of the things that happen even today, to the Indians. Heart wrenching to the core, you will cry as you watch this movie again and again. I can certainly identify with "Odette Marie". A movie filled with love, and sorrow yet so much truth, you can't help but feel the pain and joy of these precious people. For me, this is an Academy Award Winner Movie! Thank you to the people that made it!

Whispering Eagle Casteel

All of my favorite Native American actors are in this movie! I love this fairly modern Native American tradition of using Hollywood to speak their truth about who they are, where they have come from, and where they are going - to break stereotypes and honor their roots.

This movie is about a woman who is adopted by a woman who obviously desperately needed a child to love - but who may have gone to desperate lengths to get one. This movie tells the story about a rather painful American tradition of stealing Native American children - not just this one, but many, many others - in order to break the Spirit of the Native American people. Most of the other reviewers on Amazon.com seem to have missed this point, a point that is carefully and poignantly made.

In addition to taking Native American children from their tribes, cutting their hair, forbidding them to speak their native language and making their religion illegal (freedom of religion, anyone?); factoids that are NOT mentioned in this movie, who knew that children were actually stolen from Native American families (in "modern" times) for profit, and for no other real motive than the ongoing genocide of the Native American people?

I wasn't sure how Mercedes Ruehl would do in this role. I didn't think she was Native American herself - she's not. Turns out, she is Cuban American. But I am a fan, from The Fisher King to GIA to Indictment: The McMartin Trial (although I didn't like the movie, I DID like the character she played in it); I like Mercedes Ruehl. She carries the role with style, humility, and grace. She is a well-known actor, and this often gives a Native American story more "box office" cache. So be it.

This is a great movie, highly recommended. We have so much to learn, as Americans, about who we are.


Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

Flags of Our Fathers (Widescreen Edition)

Close to my heart, I could watch this movie 100 times. I think this movie is touching and probably the story of many women out there. It touched my heart to the core. The acting, even by the children, is fantastic. Based on facts that really did happen to American Indian children in the 60's, (and other years) it will tug at your heart. I know it did mine..... I highly recommend this movie!!

This is a very Heart warming true story about A adopted little girl that is raised by a Jewish couple & after the death of her Jewish parents,She finds out from a on line search for her twin brother, that she is really of Navajo Indian ancestry.Staring Mercedes Ruehl,Jamey Sheridan,Irene Bedard,Dinah Manoff, Tantoo Cardinal,& Ned Romero.Hallmark Hall Of Fame Has a way of putting Heart Warming Movies together,this one is one of their very best.

Heart-tugger. Not my usual, but the plot is emotionally engaging, the people are very well drawn, and the landscape itself becomes a character in the story. The acting is top-notch all around, including several well-known Indian actors like Tantoo Cardinal, Ned Romero, the lovely Irene Bedard, and Michael Greyeyes, who went on to star in the PBS adaptation of Tony Hillard's "Skinwalkers." (It is always good to see Indian actors hired to play Indian roles.) And of course, Mercedes Ruehl gets a chance in this movie to play a warm and hopeful role that she truly nails. 100% Family movie, safe for kids and your mother-in-law.

I am sad when things like this happen and glad that they are found again. I enjoyed the movie and the response of the families.

This Hallmark Hall of Fame movie from 2000 is inspired by a true story and tells about an adopted woman searching for her true heritage - two different cultures brought together! American Indian children were stolen by the white man and put in orphanages (lost birds). Even though she is married with children, she feels something is missing. It's a great movie for all audiences. I had the VHS and bought the DVD - a great movie to watch over and over.