Baby (2000)

A couple finds a baby on their doorstep with a note asking them to temporarily keep it. They take the baby in and care for it as if it were their own. But what if the baby's mom really returns to claim it?

Director:

Robert Allan Ackerman

Writers:

Patricia MacLachlan (book), David Manson (teleplay)

Stars:

Farrah Fawcett, Keith Carradine, Jean Stapleton

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Farrah Fawcett	...	Lily Malone
Keith Carradine	...	John Malone
Jean Stapleton	...	Byrd
Alison Pill	...	Larkin Malone
Vincent Berry	...	Lalo Baldetti
Ann Dowd	...	Ms. Minifred
Sebastian Roché	...	Rebel Clark
Paula Malcomson	...	Julia
Kyra Harper	...	Marvella Baldelli
Cheyenne Heath	...	Baby Sophie
Kailee Heath	...	Baby Sophie
Kassandra Collins	...	Toddler Sophie
Coreena Collins	...	Toddler Sophie
Gil Filar	...	Ozzie
Lauren Collins	...	Portia Pinter

Storyline

A couple finds a baby on their doorstep with a note asking them to temporarily keep it. They take the baby in and care for it as if it were their own. But what if the baby's mom really returns to claim it?

---

Plot Keywords:

overalls | based on book | 

---

Taglines:

When tragedy struck her family, the healing began with very small steps.

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

TNT

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 October 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Un intrus dans la famille

Filming Locations:

Nova Scotia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sarabande Productions, TNT

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min 120 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Ms. Minifred: [She flips through slides only to see they're empty] That's why I teach poetry, not physics.

User Reviews

Lumpen heart-tugger, unsuitably cast and lofty in the worst sense...

Small modern family, somewhat unhinged emotionally, decide to take in a healthy baby girl abandoned on the doorstep of their seaside vacation home. The parents, still grieving over a stillborn birth from years prior, are at slightly opposite ends of the situation, while their teenage daughter hopes to love the new addition despite the constant reminder the real mother will come back. Patricia MacLachlan co-adapted her book with David Manson and Kerry Kennedy, and was perhaps too anxious to ladle this TV-movie with a writer's lofty pretensions. Director Robert Allan Ackerman seems to have been taken in by MacLachlan's prose and gives the picture the kind of misty look one might envision for a 'prestigious' television event, but nothing which comes from this plot is very eventful. Much of the focus falls upon Alison Pill as daughter Larkin (her youthful confusion, her need to reach out and be reached out to), but the young actress is too studied, too careful in her reactions and responses; she's been prepared to be dynamic, though this low-gear scenario doesn't allow for such big emotions, and Pill comes off awkwardly half-animated and half-restrained. Farrah Fawcett's performance as the mother is a different matter: sluggish, at half-mast, Fawcett doesn't appear to believe in this material; indeed, it's a by-the-numbers enterprise at its core, with the husband logical and the wife loving (how neat and tidy!). Uninitiated, undiscriminating viewers might fall for it, however it's been done better, many times over.