Amber's Story

Amber's Story

Amber's Story

Remember, the director, Keoni Waxman, is responsible for how the actors perform, under his/her 'direction'. Blame him. What left a powerful and lasting impression in my head was babysitter Glen Park(Myron Natwick). He stole the show for me. What a face! Myron didn't look as bad in younger days, but you can still see it. He played the part so well that at times I forgot and thought Myron was the kidnapper. Can't find much personal biog on him but does lots of character work; a relative of late great 'Grim' Natwick, motion picture animator for Disney and Fleischer Studios. I don't know how much research was done, but they did portray Glen Park to have violent tendencies if not obeyed. He threatened Nicole several times during the kidnap sequence. What amazes me is how Sharon (her mother) felt he was quirky ten years prior. He repeatedly went against her wishes about buying the child clothes and junk food. Yet she allowed him to babysit Nicole for three years? Only when he didn't bring her home that day, did she wise up. And if Glen Park looked anything like Myron, I definitely would have stayed clear of him. Sorry Myron. As for the five year sentence, he had psych problems in that he did not want to sever that relationship. He took it hard. He honestly felt he was the responsible parent and not Sharon; with no record of abuse, he gets off quite easy. He practically built a shrine to Nicole. Hmmmm.... He's out of prison now. Once the movie ended, it was Glen Park alone who stood out in my mind....ewww. Good performance!

Amber's story was not for me about a child murderer who was never caught, it was about modern America's attitude to raising children where the mum has to work, while leaving her child to be looked after by someone else. In which case this "someone else" was a relatively disturbed old man who could see how the little girl he was asked to look after while his mum worked, was not being cared for properly by her own mother. This true story demonstrated the mum's irresponsibility toward her own little girl, because mum needed to work to pay the bills. How we in the western world solve this problem of latch key children is another issue. Because in the ideal, young children need two mature stable parents to raise them. Young children should never be left with strangers, no matter how friendly they might be.

Some of you think that the acting was awful, you insult Elisabeth Rohm, you insult everyone else. I for one have to say, no it wasn't the best show, but you know, the girl who played Amber had a pretty good accent, and I found she was the one who made it worth watching frankly, disagree if you wish but this is my opinion and I think that everyone is entitled to have one. I have to disagree with the things said about the little girls... the actresses who played Amber and Nichole in this film were 12 and 11 when they shot this, so to say that they did well for their age is almost to imply they are six or seven. I met the girl who plays Amber and she said that she was like 5'1 when she shot it,( I'm a friend of the family) I don't think it mattered much because isn't Elisabeth like 5'9 or something? Anywho... the writing wasn't all that bad but,still it was obviously a low budget Lifetime project. That's my opinion :) bye

I have no idea what the other reviewer has against Elizabeth Rohm, obviously a personal problem ... because I enjoyed Elizabeth Rohm in Law & Order ... and I also found her portrayal of Amber's mother to be top rate, accent and all. Each person reacts differently within a devastation, and accents depend on living one's life around, and amongst, others that speak with the same accent. Some people have strong accents, others have weak accents. Perhaps the other reviewer has been swayed by the last episode of Law & Order that Elizabeth Rohm was in, where we discover that her character is a lesbian? Whatever ... this is a movie worth watching ... and the acting is spot on ... all around. Elizabeth Rohm shows us that she is a much better actor than given credit for ... the way she shows the character's strength of control as she forges forward to demand that authorities take the "Amber Alert" idea seriously ... is truly remarkable. Could it have been a better movie? Maybe, because much of a movie depends on the Director, as well as how those being portrayed actually acted through their personal devastation. But the message is exceptionally clear ... PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY ... or lose them!

This movie aired on the Lifetime Channel 9/4/06. Elizabeth Rohm is known to most as ADA Serena Southerland on Law & Order. A stunning green-eyed blonde. However, in this movie she take on the role of Donna Whitson - the mother of Amber. Amber's abduction was the precipitating event that drove the institution of the nationwide AMBER ALERT system. Elizabeth was practically unrecognizable as the Law & Order beauty with Donna's dark hair and southern accent. There will probably be some who will say the accent was exaggerated or over the top. However, as a resident of Texas (Donna is from Arlington) it is my opinion Elizabeth delivered a realistic performance. In her performance she displayed the grief, fear, and ultimately the strength that a parent needs to go on in the face of their worst nightmare. Not only did Donna Whitson go on, she became instrumental in forwarding the cause of the AMBER ALERT. Also delivering an outstanding performance is the lovely Teryl Rothery. Teryl portrays Shannon Timmons, a mother whose daughter, Nichole Timmons, was abducted from their home a few years after Amber's abduction. Fans of Teryl will be pleased to see her in this role. This actress is seen far to infrequently since her character (Dr. Janet Fraiser) was killed off on the TV series Stargate SG-1. And her performance in this movie is flawless. Teryl always bring that 'something more' to her craft. Nichole's story is one of abduction by someone known to Shannon for 10 years. A 62 year-old neighbor who babysat Nichole after school. Shannon sensed there's a problem with neighbor Glen Park and his actions concerning Nichole. Her concerns were confirmed one day when she picked up Nichole at his place. She saw evidence of his obsession with her daughter and immediately took steps to eliminate him from their lives. However, Shannon's worst nightmare is made a reality when Glen breaks into her home and abducts Nichole out of her own bed in the middle of the night. Nichole Timmons' story fortunately ends with a better outcome for Nichole than Amber's. Due to the AMBER ALERT system, Nichole was found and returned to her mother. And Glen Park is serving 5 years in prison. This movie is unfortunately the telling of a true tale. One that is timely, relevant and a must see for every parent who thinks it could never happen to them. I for one hope LIFETIME releases this movie on DVD, so that parents everywhere can have the opportunity to watch it. I highly recommend this movie to everyone who ever loved a child.

I give it 2 for at least attempting to tell an important story and raise awareness, but if it wasn't dealing with such a serious issue and I was rating it as a movie alone, it would have to be 0/10. Much has been written here about Rohm's accent, and as a film fan and someone who dated a Texan, I have to say I was quite shocked. In fact, I am quite convinced many of the words coming out of her mouth were spoken by someone else, or dubbed afterwards. Either way, it was unconvincing to put it mildly. As a fan of Angel and having watched every episode at least 3 times, I am very familiar with Rohm. I happen to think her performance as Kate Lockley was excellent, so I disagree with the "she can't act" opinions. However she certainly didn't act here, and nor was she alone in that. The only performance in this movie worth mentioning was that of Jodelle Ferland, who is one of the best child actors around. If she gets the right parts, she will be an Academy award winner, or I'll eat my hat. Watch it if you want to learn about Amber's story, but don't watch it for entertainment value.

Amber's Mom: the worst acting I've ever seen. and I patronize community theater. I've lived all over the south including Texas. Unbelievable performance and less believable accents. Creepy Abductor was the best actor and I'm surprised he agreed to be in this thing. Too bad because the story deserved to be told well. Instead, it was a joke. Is this the norm for lifetime movies? I didn't think so, but it's been a long time since I watched such cheesy television. I only watched it because of the connection to real life legislation. And, I'm sure if there was such blatant disregard for the geography (Canada=Texas for gosh sakes?) there was probably such license taken with other historicity. The only thing I came away believing is that there is actually a real Amber Alert--but not because of the movie. Could that woman have actually been so stupid as to allow that guy to babysit that child? There's way more to THAT story.