A Stranger to Love (1996 TV Movie) User Reviews

A Decent TV Movie With An Unsettling Ending

[lisagirl117 · 7/10 · 9 February 2003]

This is a well used plot but the movie was engrossing throughout. The end of the movie was strangely disturbing to me, maybe inevitably, because no matter what the Beau Bridges character decides at the end he was going to be hurting an entire family. I actually found myself hoping he would choose differently than he did at the end. It wouldn't have been the politically right decision but I was more sympathetic toward the other female character.

Missing the TV Movies from Yester yrs.

[flowerssusan · 7/10 · 2 November 2018]

This is a good movie. Stars Beau Bridges. The movie is not like these cheesy, cheap TV films that are on, now a days. This was a TV film from the mid 1990's. Back when TV films still had good plots, good writing & big name actors that acted in them. In my opinion, good TV films disappeared at the end of the 1990's. I give this movie 7 out of 10 stars & recommend watching. Makes for a good Sunday afternoon movie, curled up with your favorite blanket.

Worth watching

[jewelch · 7/10 · 12 April 2021]

This movie was pretty good. I'll go as far as to say it's a hidden gem to some degree. I won't say that it's a great movie, but it is well worth watching and I will say I was feeling sorry for all of them. Try it you might just enjoy it to. James Welch Henderson, Arkansas 4/11/2021.

Engrossing story but unsatisfying ending

[Simba4 · 17 August 2004]

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.

Memory loss can have it's upside

[helpless_dancer · 7/10 · 4 February 2004]

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.

Another Great True Life Story...

[Axiom-2 · 9/10 · 25 May 1999]

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.

Pam Dawber at her finest.

[Racingphan2 · 8/10 · 14 June 2021]

I love when Hallmark Drama brings back classics like this one. It really shows how pathetic the newer Hallmark movies are.

Pam Dawber is striking and emotionally stirring. The rest of the all star lineup likewise is great.

A better-than-average TV movie

[mangos47 · 9/10 · 6 May 2009]

I have seen this movie four times now and I always look forward to it. I also always shed a tear at the end. The ending is not the usual happy ending and because of this it feels more like the true story that it is based on.

Beau Bridges gives one of his best performances, managing to convey the memory loss and gradual recovery that is accompanied by the heart-breaking decision he has to make. There is also the bonus of seeing his two real-life sons in the film. Pam Dawber and Tess Harper give good supporting performances.

I am surprised this film has such a low rating. I have seen many TV movies and this is easily one of the best I have come across. It is not as gratuitously sentimental as many have been although it could easily have been. If you have not seen it, do yourself a favour and give it a try. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Typical Made-For-TV Topic

[hillari · 7 December 2001]

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.