The Memory Keeper's Daughter (TV 2008)

A father separates his son from his twin sister at birth to prevent him and the mother from knowing she was born with Down syndrome. Based on the novel by Kim Edwards.

Director:

Mick Jackson

Writers:

John Pielmeier (teleplay), Kim Edwards (novel)

Stars:

Emily Watson, Dermot Mulroney, Hugh Thompson

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Emily Watson	...	Caroline Gil
Dermot Mulroney	...	Dr. David Henry
Hugh Thompson	...	Al
Krystal Hope Nausbaum	...	Phoebe
Rob Stewart
Gretchen Mol	...	Norah Henry
Emma Colbert	...	Phoebe 6 years
Tyler Stentiford	...	Paul 13 years
Jamie Spilchuk	...	Paul 18-22 years
Owen Pattison	...	Paul 6 years
Gay Hauser	...	Department Store Clerk
Bruce Murphy	...	Checkout Clerk
Lita Llewellyn	...	Ruby
Kerry McPherson	...	Kay
Jeremy Akerman	...	The Minister

Storyline

On a snowy winter night in 1964, Dr. David Henry rushes his pregnant wife Norah to the hospital, where, with help from her husband and nurse Caroline Gill, she delivers their son Paul. However, Dr. Henry discovers that his wife was carrying twins, and helps her deliver the second child, a baby girl named Phoebe. Shortly after Phoebe's birth, he finds that she has Down Syndrome, and hands her over to Nurse Caroline, explaining that the death of his ill sister nearly destroyed their mother and he doesn't want Norah to go through that. Instead, he instructs Caroline to take Phoebe to a nearby institution for the mentally ill, figuring the child won't live much longer, and tells Norah that Phoebe was a stillborn. However, after visiting the institution and seeing the state of the other patients, Caroline takes the baby home with her, stopping along the way to buy formula and diapers. With help from a truck driver named Al, Caroline begins to raise the baby as her own, while Dr. Henry ...

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Plot Keywords:

twin | down syndrome | nurse | truck driver | obsession | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 April 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

El guardián de la memoria

Filming Locations:

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jaffe/Braunstein Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Every time David is taking a picture and we see the shot as he takes it, the "microprism" proves to be just an overlay and doesn't break up the image when out of focus.

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Quotes

Nora Henry: [burning the pictures from the darkroom and referring to David] Bastard! That bastard!

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Connections

Featured in The 60th Primetime Emmy Awards (2008)

User Reviews

Loved it!

I am always happy when books i read turn out to be made into movies. IT makes me feel special..because i know everything that is supposed to happen.

I only learn about this movie last week Saturday when much to my surprise, a sideline ad said "The memory keeper's daughter Saturday @ 9". Of course i had to see it, and i waited and waited and finally i saw it tonight.

I haven't read the book since the first time i did which was sometime in the ending of 2006 to the beginning of 2007. I may not be clear on the exact movements of the characters but i get the gist and to me, it was a good movie. Phoebe's character was well play, but it would have been nice to see someone else play the older phoebe. Paul's character at age 18, wasn't exactly the image i thought Paul would look like but he became cuter at 22.

The book was good and this movie was equal to it, for me at least. I'm happy it came out, and honestly for a lifetime movie, i thought it was great. There was a few minor set backs, but it was a good movie!