It's difficult for me to give a totally accurate assessment of this film for the following reasons 1) I am totally subdued by the physical, oral and characterial beauty of Jaclyn Smith as the main character and 2) the film script would appear to be lacking in credibility. But I do enjoy films that illustrate the changes in peoples' character between two points in time, even if a change towards the negative causes me anguish ( I prefer a character that starts out bad and ends up good !! ) In this film then, much as I love Jaclyn Smith in the part of the main character, its just not believable ! Her husband-to-be shows us a sample of his violence BEFORE they even get married and she still goes ahead and marries him ??? No human being in their right mind would do that, and if they do, quite frankly they deserve all they get !! That is my main bone of contention, also Jaclyn Smith is portrayed in an angelic light throughout the film and her husband comes over as an evil bastard. As the film is based on what is supposed to be a true story ( if so, it's unknown here in Europe ), and in true life, nothing is all black or all white, I am tempted to believe that the husband was probably far less bad than was portrayed and that she was not a saint ! To what degree exactly I don't know as I don't have the evidence. The film makes for interesting watching, more so the first than the second half but as I say, I derived a lot of pleasure from the choice of actress for the main part !
Cries Unheard: The Donna Yaklich Story
(1994 TV Movie)
Relatively entertaining but lacking in credibility
22 February 2006
Warning: Spoilers