Deception: A Mother's Secret (1991 TV Movie) User Reviews

Fair made-for-TV film

[cosmic_quest · 6/10 · 30 September 2006]

'Deception: A Mother's Secret' was never Oscar-winning performance but it has an interesting story which will keep viewers occupied if there is nothing good on the television.

The film sees Terry engaged to single mother Amanda and ready to adopt her eight-year-old son Jay although she is oddly reluctant to let him do so. But when Alison dies in a car crash, Terry initiates the adoption procedures, knowing he will lose Jay to social services if he does nothing. However, when he begins investigating Alison and Jay's background, he discovers that not only is her ex-husband not the boy's father but she was apparently unable to even have children. Terry is then left with the uncomfortable dilemma of trying to discover where Jay came from and, by doing so, risk losing the child he has come to love as his own.

I'm uncertain if the film is based on a true event but it definitely has hallmarks of various stories that have cropped up in the news over the years. It offers an alternative insight into child abduction and the emotional consequences to those involved. It's a film for those who enjoyed 'The Face on the Milk Carton' or fans of 'Without A Trace'. Not bad as made-for-TV films go.

Moving journey

[michaelcoon174 · 7/10 · 27 February 2012]

watched this movie the other day with my wife while laying around sick. It starts off like your run of the mill made-for-TV movie. Son playing baseball, happy family, having fun. From the get go it seems like the son Jay (Robert Hy Gorman), wants a father figure in his life. His step dad Terry fills the part well played by Steven Weber. The movie is a little different in what I'm used to watching in terms of flow of a film. The mother Amanda (Mary Page Keller) is killed in a car accident in the beginning of the film so there really isn't much attachment to her character. Terry and Jay are upset for a total of five minutes after the death, that I only assume is brutal and bloody. (Its all off screen, It is a made for TV movie) After the funeral Terry decides he wants to adopt Jay as his own due to being his step dad for the last four years and growing your standard "adopt a child that calls you dad" feelings for him. At this point the film started to get good for me. Terry finds Jays birth certificate and decides to find the biological father of Jay. (Cant remember his name but its not relevant at all). This is were the journey starts to take the turn that gives the film its name. It turns out that everything Amanda has shown Terry including pictures and birth certificate about Jay is fake. Terry starts to dig around and finds out a shocking secret about Jay and Amanda that will rock there happy lives forever. Overall, especially as a guy that loves movies with blood,gore, and bombs I like the overall film. It tells a great story with good acting overall. It may not have any of my likes in but that did not stop me from being glued to the TV and shushing my wife if she tried to talk. You grow attached to a father that is trying to do the right thing while controlling his emotions. The film also stars Katherine Helmond as Terry's mother. (She makes some bacon and eggs in the film, a scene that made me laugh a little). I would give the movie 7 out of 10 stars due to the good script and solid performances by everyone involved as well as likable characters. Definitely a must watch for the TV movie fans out there.-MC

Cable-made afternoon-filling tearjerker

[parky-3 · 12 January 1999]

Losing your wife is bad. When this happens to the main protagonist of this film, however, it's only the start of a bad run of luck. He tries to adopt his stepson, but this only leads him to find out that neither his late wife nor her first husband were the kid's real parents. Fancy that. Perhaps he grew on a tree, or was conceived as a method of killing time. A bit like this movie, really.