Review of The Familiar Stranger

I enjoyed this movie, mostly because of the relationship depicted between the character of the mother (Elizabeth Welsh)and her two sons (Christopher and Ted). Her relationship with her sons is inspiring to me, myself a mother of two young sons. The mother faces her husband's suicide, later learning it was faked by him to escape his financial woes, and the solo raising of her two sons with grace and strength. She confidently seeks employment, even after initial rejection, telling her employer why she should be hired. (Later, she becomes the director of the agency.) When she learns via the Social Security Administration (not the insurance company, as described in the plot summary) that her dead husband is still living, she faces this too, with grace and strength. She does not fall apart with whimpering and whining, or in an emotional heap of pleading to him, but faces her former husband with confidence, pointedness and firmness. I also enjoyed her younger son's speech at his father's trial when he states his mother is the best mother - and father - a son could ever have. Even better is the older son's speech to his father during a jail house visit, telling him what a poor father he was by leaving them the way he did.

This is a satisfying TV movie; perfect for a Sunday afternoon snuggled on the couch with a cup of tea. Thank you, Mrs. Welsh, for your example of motherly strength and determination. You give me courage and strength as a mother, even if you are a dramatized version of your real self. And, Margaret Colin plays the mother beautifully, as do the actors who play her sons. The actor who plays the husband and father also does a good job of portraying a selfish, narcissistic man who cowardly abandons his family to save his own self. He is very easy to dislike.