Mistaken Identity
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: David Andrews, James McCaffrey, Mary Mara, Melissa Gilbert, Rosanna ArquetteDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 89 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-05-06
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Good Times Video
Movie Reviews of Mistaken Identity
Movie Review: Family is whatever you make of it
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie was recently on Lifetime Movie Network and I decided to watch it because heaven knows there isn't anything halfway edible on network TV. I actually make it a policy not to watch those melodramatic telepics because they are usually way too dramatic and promulgate fear mongering. But I am a big fan of "Desperately Seeking Susan" star, Rosanna Arquette and "Little House on the Prairie" star, Melissa Gilbert; so I knew this had to be a first-rate movie. And this movie is different from the rest; it's a feel good movie with a very positive message.
Originally titled "Switched at Birth" (re-titled as "Mistaken Identity" for the UK release & the US distribution), this TV movie tells the story of two mothers who give birth to sons on the same day and in the same hospital. Linda Wells (Rosanna) suspects that she's holding the wrong baby but the attending nurse just passes it off as first mother's jitters. Several months later when Linda sues her ex-lover for paternity it is revealed that he isn't Luke's father. And she isn't his biological mother. Linda pieces the puzzle together and the trail leads her back to Sarah Barlow (Melissa Gilbert) and little Morgan; the mother and son who shared a hospital room with her.
At first, Sarah and Linda decide to unite and be in each others' lives. But then Darryl (James McCaffrey) reenters Linda's life and decides to stir up trouble when he finds out that there could be a windfall of money coming his way (either from a hospital settlement due to their gross negligence or from the Barlows who are very well off, or from both.) If he was ultraistic and really wanted to be a part of his son's life that would have been fine, but this money-driven pig only had dollar signs in his eyes. He convinces Linda to move in with him and then he pursues a legal battle against Sarah and James Barlow (David Andrews.) However, Darryl eventually cools off when he finds out that he may not see a penny if the hospital finds out that there was an amicable settlement between the two parties.
Finally, Linda comes to her senses and leaves Darryl (this human-leech) and he loses all appeals trying to get a piece of the action. Linda and Sarah eventually move next-door to each other, so they can raise their kids as brothers.
Rosanna and Melissa both gave exceptional performances; I can only hope that they work together again because there was a real synergy between the two. Rosanna played the harried single mother living on borrowed time very well because the hopelessness and sadness in her face was very believable. And Melissa played the upper-middle class home-maker to the letter; at first she came off as standoffish and snobbish but as the movie progressed it was apparent that she cared very much for Linda and Luke.
I really enjoyed this movie because it has a very positive message. And that message is that family is whatever you make of it. Just because a mother did not give birth to her baby does not mean she could love him or her any less. It is love that unites a family; not blood.
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