krissyafite1979 Review of Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night

Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night (1977 TV Movie)

Susan Dey played the part well

[6/10 · 20 February 2021]

I found this movie and remembered seeing it years ago. My husbands a big Partige family fan so I decided to watch this again. This was a very different role for Susan Dey but she was believable. This movie was sad and Deys character was terrible but somewhat realistic as theres are parents who are not fit to raise their children Her husband/childs father who abandoned his family seemed worst then her (he was angry that their three year old got dirty running outside in the backyard after their cat? Really????) I dont think she realized she and her little one could have been better off without him had she gotten the help she needed and raised her child the right way. Maybe she should have moved on and eventually considered seeing someone else. (There was a scene where she asks him if hes seeing somebody and says she isn't, trying to woe him back when he treated her like garbage. Her mom treated her like garbage and both parents abused her as a child so maybe she was used to that )Maybe if she could have moved on and not blamed and resented her child for her ex's wrong doing, maybe she would've been a more content and better mom. Something about the female DR I did not like. She was just doing her job to make that poor child safe and she was not wrong but she just seemed vindictive somehow whereas the social worker seemed more diplomatic, but neither of them succeeded at protecting that child. The actress who played that child looked way older then three, she looked more like five or six. Maybe they decided to cast an older actress because they thought a three or four year old couldn't follow instructions to act out the part. Other reviewers said she was such a horribly behaved child but I did not think she was so bad. She was a handful but she was often neglected or abused prior to misbehaving. Even when she spir food out her mom was force feeding her what looked like baby rice cereal with water instead of milk in a dirty bowl and how could that be the only food she had? Strange. But she was obviously very depressed and needed help and didnt get much support from her family or therapist. All in all a sad story but in some ways possibly realistic.