Dangerous Child is a Made for TV-Movie that deals with the subject of domestic abuse. However, with the 100's of movies about child abuse, this well made drama focuses on what happens when the child is the abuser of the parent. The film is very well acted and directed. I was especially impressed with Ryan Merriman's acting.
Ryan's character Jack will keep you second guessing as to what he might do next, as his moods change from withdrawn to hostile, often in the blink of an eye. The coldness in his eyes and the anger that he feels towards his mother over small things that gradual build to where Mom because totally fearful of her son is both powerful and painful in viewing. This film leaves very little material sugar coated.
It even tries to establish the cause of why the son would become so violent? A strong subplot is that the Mother, excellently played by Delta Burke, still has conflicts with her ex-husband who has since remarried. In addition to this, Mom has a new boyfriend who seems to trigger most of her son, Jack's ranges. Therapy sessions, toward the end of the movie, seen from the perspective of both Mother and son, show that Mom herself was the pattern of domestic abuse from her ex-husband, and Jack's loneliness and resentment towards his Mother since their divorce, in addition to her boyfriend Frank may have triggered a lot of Jack's anger and outrage.
Jack seems to almost suffer from bi-polar disorder. In a disturbing scene where the family cat is injured. (Thankfully, the abuse of the cat is not shown on camera, but you can see Jack in a darkened room holding the cat, breaking into tears.) It seems that at this troubling moment in the film, Jack and his Mother, Sally, realize that the help he needs is so severe that he must be committed to a behavioral clinic for a minimum of six months.
The time goes by in flashbacks as the two come to grips with the pain they have caused each other. The reconciliation of the two of them back together playing the piano gives the film an upbeat ending, which seems to be the only downfall in this movie. It's a memorable ending, but it was almost certainly used as a needed prerequisite for this being a TV movie. The downfall in this movie is not the upbeat ending in itself, but for realism, it seems a bit too upbeat. A younger son is critically injured in the cross fire while Jack and Sally are having a fight and knocked unconscious. We do not really know what happens to him.
However, Ryan Merriman and Delta Burke are wonderful in this story. The fast-pace and quality presentation of very serious material keeps "Dangerous Child" from being just another "TV Movie of The Week." I highly recommend this film!
Ryan's character Jack will keep you second guessing as to what he might do next, as his moods change from withdrawn to hostile, often in the blink of an eye. The coldness in his eyes and the anger that he feels towards his mother over small things that gradual build to where Mom because totally fearful of her son is both powerful and painful in viewing. This film leaves very little material sugar coated.
It even tries to establish the cause of why the son would become so violent? A strong subplot is that the Mother, excellently played by Delta Burke, still has conflicts with her ex-husband who has since remarried. In addition to this, Mom has a new boyfriend who seems to trigger most of her son, Jack's ranges. Therapy sessions, toward the end of the movie, seen from the perspective of both Mother and son, show that Mom herself was the pattern of domestic abuse from her ex-husband, and Jack's loneliness and resentment towards his Mother since their divorce, in addition to her boyfriend Frank may have triggered a lot of Jack's anger and outrage.
Jack seems to almost suffer from bi-polar disorder. In a disturbing scene where the family cat is injured. (Thankfully, the abuse of the cat is not shown on camera, but you can see Jack in a darkened room holding the cat, breaking into tears.) It seems that at this troubling moment in the film, Jack and his Mother, Sally, realize that the help he needs is so severe that he must be committed to a behavioral clinic for a minimum of six months.
The time goes by in flashbacks as the two come to grips with the pain they have caused each other. The reconciliation of the two of them back together playing the piano gives the film an upbeat ending, which seems to be the only downfall in this movie. It's a memorable ending, but it was almost certainly used as a needed prerequisite for this being a TV movie. The downfall in this movie is not the upbeat ending in itself, but for realism, it seems a bit too upbeat. A younger son is critically injured in the cross fire while Jack and Sally are having a fight and knocked unconscious. We do not really know what happens to him.
However, Ryan Merriman and Delta Burke are wonderful in this story. The fast-pace and quality presentation of very serious material keeps "Dangerous Child" from being just another "TV Movie of The Week." I highly recommend this film!