Customer Reviews

When the Bough Breaks [VHS]

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

 

 

Ally Walker stars as Audrey MacLeah, a profiler from the Texas Rangers helping the Houston Police investigate severed human hands that showed up during a flash-flood. Her lead to the case is a child with psychic abilities locked up in a mental institution. The story also has a sub-plot on how the local police resent MacLeah for being a State Law Enforcer helping them solve the case.

Although the movie has some flaws, it is still a very good suspense thriller & Ally Walker's acting is terrific. The movie was released in 1993. It's a good thing that it will be released in DVD format.

Interestingly though, Ally Walker later went on to star in the TV series "Profiler" (she played a profiler/forensic psychologist working for the FBI) from 1996 to 1999.

Ally Walker reminded me of a toned down Charlize Theron in this effectively chilling thriller. Her zesty, controlled and courageous performance highlights this tale of a serial killer who has surgically removed the hands of several young children. The murders occur on the same date, and the victims progress in age over the ten year period. Walker also ties up with a young psychiatric patient who has refused to talk for ten years---she begins to see the connection, as do we the viewer. Martin Sheen has a small role as the sheriff, and Ron Perlman has a small role too near the end, but this is Walker's movie. She comes across tough, yet vulnerable. The plot has some holes: where did Walker get her scars? There is a hint of some kind of emotional trauma, her claustrophobia never being fully explained. And the ending comes rather abruptly without a full explanation of what was going on. Writer/director Michael Cohn makes the viewer put all the pieces together.
But still this is a chilling movie and Walker is perfect.

Ally Walker stars as Audrey MacLeah, a profiler from the Texas Rangers helping the Houston Police investigate severed human hands that showed up during a flash-flood. Her lead to the case is a child with psychic abilities locked up in a mental institution. The story also has a sub-plot on how the local police resent MacLeah for being a State Law Enforcer helping them solve the case. The movie is a very good suspense thriller & Ally Walker's acting is terrific. The movie was released in 1993. I only have the video on VHS but would gladly buy the DVD version in an instant!

Interestingly though, Ally Walker later went on to star in the TV series "Profiler" (she played a profiler/forensic psychologist working for the FBI) from 1996 to 1999.

On a personal note, I watched & bought the video of "When The Bough Breaks" because I was so impressed with her performance on "Profiler" (I just had to see all the projects that she's done). I just wish that "Profiler" would be available on video, preferrably in DVD format (with cast & crew commentaries as well as other behind-the-scenes materials)!

I watched "When the Bough Breaks" last night as an uncut, no commercials, cable TV movie.

Up front, to give the movie credit, it was entertaining enough. No boredom. Just nagging thoughts.

Too early in the movie, the parallels to "Silence of the Lambs" become very apparent. That started with the isolated underground captivity of the key informant/psych patient and continued all the way through the confrontation with the villain in the basement.

But even before that comes the nagging impression that police department had simply not done a competent investigation. Does it really take a profiler from the state to see all these July 16 connections?

Then comes the prosecutor's nightmare. Ali simply breaks into the house without a search warrant. With all the things she sees, there goes any hope of a conviction. And this is a trained law enforcement officer?

Does a trained law enforcement officer go into as dangerous an environment as that basement without notifying a dispatcher and asking for some backup? Of course, having backup arrive from two miles away would have ruined the climax of the film.

And so many loose ends....

--The predominace of smoking, even extending to the child patient.
--Unexplained scratch-mauling of the profiler's back.
--The disappearance of the police captain in the middle of the plot.
--The ability of a cop to so effectively hypnotize an autistic child.
--The question of the patient's Jordan/Jennifer identity and reason for the wrist markings when the identity of the other twin seems so apparent.

None of these mar the film's entertainment value. It's only afterwards that one feels diminished by a badly written screenplay.

I loved the movie! It was real! It was gritty! It carried me in through to the end!
Ally Walker was so credible with her intriguing personality traits, and yet destinguished research and detective work!
Beautiful!!
I could watch the movie over and over again, and still find more interesting things in the movie!
The only thing I didn't like was how it ended. Rather abrupt and somewhat inconclusive!

I just wanted to comment on the review given by the person From the Phillipines. I have done several querys to find The Profiler tv series on DVD. Will that be coming anytime soon? I would love to see it. Thanks.