English-accented blonde Tushka Bergen (as Gillian) gets a job as "nanny" for an affluent family. Head of the household Victor Garber (as Tim Beeman) works in their luxurious home. Attractive wife and mother Rita Wilson (as Annie) tends to her children, especially doting on "Maggie". The other two children are precocious Mae Whitman (as Rebecca, affectionately nicknamed "Doc") and youngest David Dorfman (as "Sam"). The plot concerns the five-year-old middle child "Maggie", who doesn't exist. She is the "Invisible Child". Due to some unspecified mental illness, Ms. Wilson has created Maggie, from birth, and is the only one who can see the little girl. Because she needs the job, nanny "Gillian" agrees to go along with the fantasy. The family fears Ms. Wilson would be declared unfit or committed to a mental institution, if "Maggie" is discovered to be imaginary...
This "Lifetime" TV Movie is ultimately unsatisfying because it offers too little background and never properly addresses the mother's mental health problems. We are led to believe she has handled the situation for years, without being labeled the village idiot. This seems highly unlikely, although the script advises that Mr. Garber and the other two children have helped enable the ruse. This teleplay, written by David Field and directed by Joan Micklin Silver, does have some fun scenes; these are when the characters go out in public places with the invisible "Maggie". Best is when Wilson declares "Maggie" has a fever and must be rushed to the hospital. Also noteworthy is the performance of young Whitman, especially her scene in the "Agency for Child Protection" office with suspicious Freda Foh Shen. Her manipulation is not at all believable, but it is well-played.
**** Invisible Child (3/8/99) Joan Micklin Silver ~ Rita Wilson, Tushka Bergen, Mae Whitman, Victor Garber
This "Lifetime" TV Movie is ultimately unsatisfying because it offers too little background and never properly addresses the mother's mental health problems. We are led to believe she has handled the situation for years, without being labeled the village idiot. This seems highly unlikely, although the script advises that Mr. Garber and the other two children have helped enable the ruse. This teleplay, written by David Field and directed by Joan Micklin Silver, does have some fun scenes; these are when the characters go out in public places with the invisible "Maggie". Best is when Wilson declares "Maggie" has a fever and must be rushed to the hospital. Also noteworthy is the performance of young Whitman, especially her scene in the "Agency for Child Protection" office with suspicious Freda Foh Shen. Her manipulation is not at all believable, but it is well-played.
**** Invisible Child (3/8/99) Joan Micklin Silver ~ Rita Wilson, Tushka Bergen, Mae Whitman, Victor Garber