In from the Night

Bobby Miller, a wounded and abused young man, has had his share of unhappiness as he has been pushed around too much. His parents, who have emotional problems have not cared for him. When in desperation, he shows up at the home of his aunt Vicki, a writer, he is at the end of his rope. Not only are his wounds psychological, but he suffers from sleeping disorder as well. It takes his aunt a lot of courage to come to understand what this lost soul is lacking.

Vicki not only takes care of his pressing problems, but she is instrumental in his rehabilitation. In order to give him confidence, she rents him an apartment in the garage of her landlord. Bobby, who is easily influenced at this point of his life, mixes with some punks that only use him to crash in his living space. When someone trashes the place, Vicki has no choice but to get him back with her.

Bobby's redemption comes in a way of computer science. He is clearly ahead of his peers. This is told to Vicki by his instructor, who encourages him to go ahead and make something out of himself. Finally, Bobby, with the love and guidance from his caring aunt, goes into college and a new life. Vicki got out of this teen ager much more than his whole family, who failed him completely. She turned him into a person with a future ahead of him because Vicki recognizes the goodness inside his heart.

This film was directed by Peter Levin. The main attraction for seeing the made for television movie was Marcia Gay Harden, an actress with a fine intuition for bringing life to the characters she plays. This is the case with her Vicki, an intelligent approach to who this woman was. Taylor Handley appears as Bobby, the teen ager that has been dealt a bad hand by his own people. Also in the cast the marvelous Marian Seldes, Kate Nelligan and Regina Taylor.

"In From the Night" is a truly inspirational film about a subject not too many people talk about, but that affects a lot of families.

Hallmark Hall of Fame movies are usually not romance movies. But it seems like all of them have to have a little side story where the main character flirts with a romantic interest. I don't know why. In this case it really seemed foreign to the rest of the story, but I guess it was a glimpse of what she gave up for Bobby.

This is a hard story. From the moment Bobby walked into Vicki's house, I thought it was obvious that this was a badly abused kid. Vicki knew there were problems with her brother's family, but didn't seem to see how deep Bobby's scars were. It takes a while, and solving several preliminary issues, before she gets to that. And that's pretty much how this story goes. Wading through one issue after another until we reach the expected end.

I don't recommend this for children and even tweens and teens probably need to have their parents watch with them. There are some definite rough spots portrayed.

It's Hall of Fame so the acting, at least for principle characters, is good. The script is good.

This movie was very well thought out and had so much to say. If only those who make a living by interacting with teens (in some way,) would be able to really see into it; there could be some wonderful changes in so many lives. Bobby had support, love and a strong role model, and he was allowed to have control over what happened to him, rather than being controlled. It made the whole difference.

This was way more than a movie, it was an education. We need more Bobby stories. So often we see the line "if each abused/learning disabled etc. student had just one person who cared/believed in them, LISTENED to them......." The importance is so obvious here. Sadly, in reality, many Bobbys probably watched this film from an institution of some type and had bittersweet reactions to it. I'd love to know more about the inspiration for the film and I hope this is one of many that refer to teens and the problems created by family, disabling school settings and society.

The Tristen character was best left as it was, because that's where all the other abused/neglected/learning disabled teens, who aren't as fortunate as Bobby, ARE. My opinion, he wanted a friend and he wanted to be part of what Bobby had. He could be alone with nothing ahead for him, or he could continue to go with the group, rather than be all alone. It was obvious he wished for choices too. Would anyone ever know his story?

Susanna Styron and Bridget Terry, THANK YOU

While talking on the phone about the novel she is writing, Vicki Miller must answer the door. She sees her nephew Bobby, who has run away from home and looks dirty and frightened. Bobby eats like he hasn't seen food for days, and he flinches quite easily when touched. When he sleeps, he has nightmares and tosses and turns, and he has a difficult time waking up during the day. Vicki's mother Vera calls, frantic that Bobby is missing.

In flashbacks, we learn how Vicki, her parents, and her sister Ruth picked up Bobby as a baby from his parents Rob and Priscilla, who didn't want him and don't seem capable of caring for a child. In fact, Rob and Priscilla met in a mental hospital.

Vicki visits lawyer Ned Alvarez to find out what options to take. She explains that Rob fought for custody after his domineering father died, and Bobby went back to his disturbed parents for 10 years. Temporarily, Bobby moves in with Ruth and her husband Chet (Kevin Kilner), but that doesn't work out. Bobby trusts Vicki and is determined to live with her. Vicki finds a solution for Bobby and tries to make up for all the abuse he has suffered.

Meanwhile, Vicki attends an event related to her novel (her first, by the way) and meets Aiden. She also has an awkward moment with Nora Cantata (Marian Seldes in a brief but memorable performance), a member of a selection committee. Vicki has two dogs, Nick and Nora, who were named for the "Thin Man" characters.

Helping Bobby proves to be a challenge, but Vicki is determined. One obstacle: Bobby is happy to have friends, even if they do look like punk rockers. But they are not really friends. People who look like that (unless they are just changing their look to rebel) tend to take advantage of others.

Marcia Gay Harden does a capable job here, and Taylor Handley is outstanding in a role with more obvious challenges. I was disappointed not to see more of Thomas Gibson (I guess the movie was promoted with the idea people would want to see a star from a popular show, but he wasn't that important in reality). In some scenes I noticed he had an Irish accent, which was distracting to me. I don't know if he had the accent in all his scenes.

Other fine performances came from Lauren Tom and Regina Taylor as therapists who discovered exactly what was wrong with Bobby and came up with ideas for solving his problems.

The movie's one big weakness, in my opinion, was the fact we saw little of Priscilla, though Mageina Tovah succeeded in a mere five seconds (in the present) in making her appear quite demented. She was shown more in flashbacks looking spaced-out as Bobby was taken from her, and behaving wildly later (as Bobby hid). Mackenzie Astin did an okay job as Rob in a later scene from the present where he appeared under control, but not really able to cope with a child. It may be just as well that we saw so little of the abuse, because we certainly saw its results.

Another weakness: we hear at one point that Vicki is a teacher, but we see very little evidence of this. I suppose one of the scenes was taking place in her school, but it was hard to tell.

Overall, this was worthy of the Hallmark Hall of Fame.

This is definitely not a lighthearted show. It's a drama about the damaging effects of abuse and neglect. The long-term consequences of Grandpa's lousy parenting. And the consequences of custody courts favoring biological parents' wishes over the safety of the child. A single aunt finds herself becoming an unofficial mother to her teenage nephew, and they have a long struggle in helping him recover from the psychological damage inflicted by his parents.