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| Synopsis:- |
| Small time crook and reluctant father Jack Charles goes on the run with his two kids, Kelly who has escaped from an abusive children's home, and Eddie, who Jack and Kelly save from being put into the same place. They travel to New Orleans (where Jack has a big heist lined up) pursued by the authorities and, on the way, Jack discovers that he quite likes the idea of being a father after all. With the help of Kathleen Mercer, an investigative journalist, Jack and Kelly try to put those in charge of the children's home behind bars. |
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| My Review |
| Small time crook goes on the run with two kids he hardly knows and ends up discovering he loves them? Pass the sick-bag. At least that is what I feared when I sat down to watch it. It didn't sound like my kind of film at all and I would never have gone near it were it not for that fact that Sabrina was in it. |
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| In the event I found that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Its not a brilliant movie by any means but it is an enjoyable one. Crucially, it avoided the trap of overdoing the schmaltz The sickening syrupy sweetness that I feared didn't arise and Jack Charles didn't undergo an unrealistic complete transformation as he wasn't especially bad at the start and wasn't especially good at the end. |
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| The lack of schmaltz is in a very large part due to Sabrina's performance as Kelly. Kelly is a feisty character who has latched on to Jack, not because she loves him, but because she simply has no-one else. She doesn't rate him as a father and repeatedly tells him so. I've never seen anyone better at delivering a cutting sarcastic remark than Sabrina. And yet beneath the feisty exterior there is a scared and vulnerable young girl and the beauty of Sabrina's performance is that she manages to convey these hidden emotions without speaking. As a comedy film the abuse angle is only touched upon lightly but Sabrina's eyes tell the viewer all they need to know. |
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| Speaking of comedy, I have to say that the film is not rib-ticklingly funny. But it has a number of amusing moments and Sabrina gives an early display of her excellent comic timing. And her wonderfully expressive face! When Sabrina is doing happiness, you can't help but smile along with her. Somehow she manages to convey joy in its purest form. |
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| As for the rest of the cast. Swayze gives a solid performance as Jack Charles. Halle Berry only appears for about ten minutes in total and young Brian Bonsall is competent. All of which says that without Sabrina this wouldn't have been much of a movie. With her, its worth 90 minutes of anyone's time. |
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| NB: "Father Hood" is now availoable on DVD. |
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