Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

redeyedtreefrog I am a little surprised at the low ratings this movie has received. The concept is a simple one, love and loss; it is eloquently portrayed in Long Lost Son. In the case of Quinn, he was a monster in what he did to his wife and son but not so much so that when he had the opportunity to kill her... he did not. When cornered he admitted what he did and gave them back each other, knowing that he may never see Mark again. Mark took a leap of faith into his mother's arms, leaving all he had known to be with a family he did not know. The unsung hero, I think, is Steve - the step-father. Without getting too personal I have to say that his support was not just that of an unsung hero but almost that of a superhero. Quinn was a conman to everyone including himself and there is no excuse, no reason to put a mother (or father) or child... through such a violent and senseless separation. It is the strong ones that never give up hope despite the burning madness to either give up or block out. Maybe I like this movie so much because of the parallels in my life and maybe that is the best reason of all to recommend it!!!

guilfisher-1 Chace Crawford, an up and coming young actor, walks off with this movie for TV. He's charming and does a decent acting job with a featured role, his first. Story revolves around a man who takes his son and fakes a boat accident and disappears with the result that he and his son were lost at sea. This leaves the wife, a shrew, behind. She remarries and fifteen years go by when we discover the father and son aren't dead.As expected, the mother learns this and goes on a wild search to find them. This is where the film goes down hill. This woman seems to break every law in entering another country, which is impossible without a passport of which she has none, nor birth certificate. She actually becomes a rather insipid person and you root for the father and son to lose her.Gabrielle Anwar plays the long lost mother badly. Looking to young for the part, they try getting her hair up for the older woman, but then suddenly she's running along the beach with her long hair flowing behind her in the breeze. Her mouth also bothered me. Craig Sheffer does much better as the father and evokes sympathy from his audience as his reasons for the kidnapping make sense. To keep his son from becoming a mommies's boy. Unfortunately the shrew wins out. The farewell scene between the father and son, brought some heartfelt emotions from young Crawford.There is some spectacular scenery of the islands and the sea in this film. Gorgeous photography and the good looking Chace Crawford make it a film worth watching.

peace9-1 Gabrielle Anwar is luminous. It was not at all surprising that she had men all over the place either sweet-talking her or bending the rules for her. The young man who played Mark/Matthew made me wish I was about 25 years younger than I am! (grin)But still... come on. I'll grant you that it would not be easy to wait a few weeks to get a passport before going to see your son, but the travel agent told her she would probably be detained and possibly deported back the U.S., in which case she would be right back where she started. And if she's so good at getting people to bend the rules for her, why didn't she contact whoever about getting the passport, explain her story, and try to get the process expedited? This was a plot device tossed in to the story to keep it from being about half an hour long, and the writer surely could have found *something* more believable!And what is Kristine's problem with telling the truth? Why didn't she tell her story to the official at the immigration office once she arrived on the island without a passport? Why lie to him about losing her passport? And for that matter, why did he believe her? I don't know about anyone else, but I don't usually travel with a copy of my birth certificate in my purse. If she lost her passport on the plane, why would she have her birth certificate right there with her, and why didn't the immigration official question her about it? Same thing with the local police officer -- same lie and same problematic paperwork.Speaking of the police officer, what's up with him telling Kristine "names and numbers -- I'm on it" as if he plans to investigate Quinn, then turning around and calling Quinn to joke with him about "this crazy American?" Another silly plot device to keep Kristine from going straight to Matthew to tell him, I suppose, since he told her it would impede his "investigation."Finally at the end of the movie, as the three main characters sit in boats anchored at a salt flat with a hurricane approaching, Quinn (and the screenwriter) can't seem to figure out what he should do. One minute he's saying they can't go back to the island because "they're looking for me." He intends to make a run for it, and take Kristine and Matthew with him. A moment later, he has apparently remembered there's a hurricane on the way and calls the rescue helicopter, giving them his location, so he, Kristine, and Matthew can be picked up -- says he wants to do his time on this island rather than rotting in jail in Haiti, and he doesn't want Matthew or Kristine to get hurt. (This from the man who told his son his mother was dead, and let the mother believe her son was dead. But he doesn't want them to get hurt.) Another moment later, Kristine suggests he take the zodiac and get away, and he agrees, thereby making her (and presumably Matthew) an accessory to his escape from the law. (But he doesn't want them to get hurt.)It's not a terrible movie, but it's also not one I would watch again.

blanche-2 Gabrielle Anwar is Karen, a woman who believes her son and husband to be dead for the past 14 years - until she sees a young man and her husband in a vacation video. "The Long Lost Son" is about a woman who will not be stopped from going to the resort location and tracking down her child.This film was a real tour de force for Anwar, who gives a beautiful performance as the mother. The scene where she hears on the answering machine that the search at sea for her husband and child will have to be abandoned is amazing. So upset that she is unable to walk, she doubles over and leans on furniture to get across the room, where she completely collapses. All of her physical mannerisms and emotions rang true throughout.In order to give the character more obstacles, however, the writer added a plot hole - Karen buys her ticket for this island, but she has no passport. The travel agent suggests that she bring her birth certificate and driver's license. Uh, this is 2006. She brings a birth certificate that's not even an official copy. Anyone who has ever traveled to a foreign country knows that if you have a ticket, you can be issued a passport immediately. Naturally she runs into trouble when she arrives and her story about her husband is not believed as he is well-liked on the island and a friend of the police chief's.I had one other problem with this film, and that is, with Karen's son missing for 14 years, how could she have recognized him so readily? In real life, when the police thought they had found Eton Patz some years after he was kidnapped, the parents broke down when the saw the recent photo because they weren't sure that was their son. And look at Princess Anastasia. It's obviously not so easy. In this case, I bought it because I went with the mystical connection between mother and child - but really, if she had seen her husband on the video first, being suspicious about the young man would have made more sense.What makes this film above average is Anwar's performance and seeing a new actor, Chace Crawford, who plays Matthew/Mark, the son. He brought a naturalness and warmth to his role - and it doesn't hurt that he's a major hunk. You'll be seeing a lot of him.