A Mother's Rage (2013)

As Good As It Gets

A Major Disappointment

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

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Shielding Loughlin (who cannot escape FULL HOUSE, as her character here is also named Rebecca) puts her motherly instincts to good use when she senses terror afoot. The acting is not half-bad… in fact, one could say the acting is actually pretty decent (and that's saying a lot for a Lifetime Production); however, the trap is set when we finally make it to the ending, and all the complexities of these decently developed characters are quickly wrapped up by simple solutions. Perhaps easing up on the sub-plots would have allowed for a less rushed ending. Shaun Sipos' performance alone allows this time-filler to be worth the while, and Lori Loughlin is as charming as ever despite her character being a bit of a nut.** (out of four)

Beautiful blonde Lori Loughlin (as Rebecca Mayer) is worried sick about 17-year-old college-bound daughter Jordan Hinson (as Conner). On the road, Ms. Loughlin thinks a series of sleazy men are having seriously nasty thoughts about her nubile teenager. Meanwhile, highway patrolwoman Kristen Dalton (as Emily Tobin) is uncovering facts about a mysterious serial killer. Mature-looking 15-year-old daughter Alix Elizabeth Gitter (as Molly) worries her sheriff mom by tagging along and providing clues..."A Mother's Rage" is an engagingly structured TV Movie, by Shane Mathers, with director Oren Kaplan guiding some good, crosscutting performances and drama. It is outstanding how the "parallel" stories unfold slowly, without an overabundance of trickery. However, the ending shots are a little frazzled. Watch for sneaky Shaun Sipos (as Calvin) to enliven the final scenes, and a startling appearance by former "Happy Days" then "Married with Children" hunk Ted McGinley as a lascivious short-order cook.****** A Mother's Rage (4/6/13) Oren Kaplan ~ Lori Loughlin, Kristen Dalton, Shaun Sipos, Ted McGinley

I cannot agree that this film should be categorized as an action (the only convincing bit of action is a car chase where the mother and her daughter are being tail-gated by a low-life car-jacker), and certainly not a comedy! As a standard LMN movie, I guess it could be categorized as a crime drama, or possibly a suspense. LMN suspenses for me, however, have little suspenseful impact as they are mostly so much of a muchness. Twists in the endings, or in the story-line, as with this one, give them some entertainment value.If there was a separate scale for LMN movies, I would give this one a rating of seven for its entertainment value, but since that is not possible here I can only give it a rating of three.There are numerous holes in the plot, but I will not describe them here as I do not want to have to issue a spoiler warning. I will, however, comment on the car chase. I do wonder, in reality, is the best action to drive at high speed to try to lose the tail-gater? Is it a good idea to swerve off onto a lonely country road? I do not know, I have never been tail-gated by a maniac with a gun. The sensible thing to me would be to continue to drive at a steady speed, keeping in high-density traffic, and only pulling up in an area highly populated with pedestrians, and/or a police station or near a police car. But then I am not trying to make a movie.