OllieSuave-007
This is a somber, dramatic and heartfelt true story of the abduction of Adam Walsh, eldest son of future America's Most Wanted host John Walsh. After Adam is kidnapped and later found murdered, John and his wife Reve become advocates for missing children.The events surrounding Adam were heartbreaking and traumatic, making you feel for the pain his death has caused his parents and relatives and making you cringe at the thought of Adam going through such a terrible ordeal. I'll always remember watching this TV movie as a kid, eager to see how everything unfolded at the end. The story definitely leaves you sad, but also leaves your yearning for justice and stronger laws to protect our young children. The Walshes definitely made a lasting impact in America in their continued advocacy and mission to protect children.Grade A-
PeachHamBeach
At the age of 11, I was already a paranoid older sister. I was "trained" to watch my younger siblings with the warnings, "If you don't watch them, someone will snatch them and rape and murder them, and then you'll be sorry."I'll never have children. I'm not a coward. I've already done the mother thing, and it was a nightmare that only ended when my siblings grew up, moved on, got married. So in a way, I can identify with the guilt and grief the Walsh family shared. Daniel J. Travanti's performance was so powerful, and so was JoBeth Williams'. This movie terrified me and knocked any remaining naivete from me. I was already a basketcase before the film aired. After, I was convinced that there are too many predators out there, cowards with sick perversions, and that unless you watch your kids like a hawk, one of the millions of lurking demons will come and steal your child. Reve Walsh was gone all of 5 minutes. That's all it takes. After 30 years, this made for TV movie remains powerful, unbearably real and painful in its production and presentation. Part of the reason it's watchable for me (mostly) is the cast, including one of my all time favorite actors, Richard Masur, along with Martha Scott as Adam's grandmother and Mason Adams as John Walsh's friend and coworker who helped speak to police agencies in Florida to get the search for Adam moving faster than it would have. It's so terrible how it takes a brutal murder to motivate this country into action. In 1981, the FBI did not place a missing child on their list of priorities. Adam's death caused his parents to go to bat for innocent children. I don't subscribe to that "everything happens for a reason" stuff. When a child is stolen and murdered, it is senseless, pure evil, not the will of "God". I will say that Adam did not die in vain. His sad story woke up a nation to reality. He is the inspiration and his family are heroes who have paved the way. We now have Megan's Law and Amber alerts. We now know how urgent and imperative it is to react NOW when a child goes missing.
Syl
THe movie of Adam based on the tragic tale of Adam Walsh is heartbreaking. It chronicles the tragedy of a young boy's life who was snuffed out from under us. His death was not in vain because his parents became advocates for missing children in real life. The movie ends with photos of missing children. The tragedy of missing child is often worse than knowing their fate. This film is faithful to the story. Daniel J. Travanti and JoBeth Williams play Adam's parents and they could not have done a better job. THe film may be over 20 years old but it is still very effective in bring human emotion to a story like Adam Walsh. He became the symbol for missing children. When Reve is reading those letters from people who have been through the hell that the Walshes have been through, it is heartbreaking. Rather than wallow in self-pity, they pursue justice for others who have been through the same. THey realize that they are not the only ones. The Walshes lives changed forever when Reve went to inquire about a lamp at the mall. She turns around and their little boy is gone forever. I remember the scene where they go to the car, leave the doors unlocked, and prepare if Adam comes home. That's probably the most memorable moment in the film.
dire69
To this day, I still watch this movie because I have it taped on vhs and it's still one of the best tv movies ever made and it still makes me cry. They should really make more movies like this one now because everyday a child goes missing. Every year, they have the "Missing Children's Network" telethon so why not make more movies too.
AD
