A Stranger to Love (1996)

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

I have to be honest that I missed most of this movie. I was channel flipping and stopped to watch the last half-hour. I quickly figured out that he had amnesia (though I didn't know why) and that he had to make a difficult choice to stay with the new life he created or go back to the old one. No matter which choice, he was going to hurt a woman he loved and children. I found the ending unsatisfying and unrealistic. I won't put any spoilers here about which way he went, but such a decision would be far too emotionally and logistically complex that no one could decide as quickly and decisively as he did. This director wrapped up the entire ending in about 15 minutes without giving us much insight as to WHY.

Good lesson in not being unobservant concerning your surroundings. Such an attitude led to this man losing his memory, identity, and family. He became a dirty, homeless street person who wound up in a trash box just for a scrap of food. When he received sympathy from a kind woman, not only his fortunes changed but her's also leading to a strange outcome.

This story is based on true-life events, but how many times have we seen this plot? Somebody loses their memory, in this case, a loving husband who's a restaurant owner. He wanders around lost until someone, in case, a lonely woman, helps in out and falls for him in the process. Many cliques, including the scenes where the guy is surprised to know that he has some skill, but can't remember how he came to know how to do it. The only difference is that has a somewhat downbeat ending than usual for this type of story.

Each year when all the big TV networks are planning there Fall schedule,I always look forward to another season of fact based movies."A Stranger To Love" is one that gets my full approval rating. It is a well done film about a married man who gets beat up & then loses his memory. He relocates to another city, where he starts up a new life. Beau Bridges,Pam Dawber & Tess Harper all give outstanding performances. This is a movie worth checking out.