Like Mom, Like Me

"Family doesn't have to be three people. When you went away, people used to come up to us and say that they were sorry that Mommy and I were all alone... but we weren't alone, 'cause we had each other."

kristymcnichol.net ©

	Director Michael Pressman's Like Mom, Like Me (1978) is the story of a mother and daughter trying to start over again after being abandoned by the man in their life. College professor Althea Gruen (Linda Lavin) and her daughter Jennifer (Kristy McNichol) find themselves alone when Althea's husband (Lawrence Pressman) abandons them after experiencing a midlife crisis. Moving into a new apartment both find that they have to start all over again anew, new school, new friends and a whole new life. Mom soon takes an interest in a colleague, a self-absorbed professor by the name of Philip Stanford (Patrick O'Neal), but the relationship doesn't go very far and causes considerable conflict between mother and daughter. Feeling alone Althea then begins another relationship with Henry Millen (Max Gail) an affable local policeman that is a friend to everyone. Meanwhile Jennifer is also beginning a relationship with a nice boy, Peter (Michael Le Clair), a lifeguard that she met when her and her mother went on a trip. As Peter and Jennifer become closer Althea realizes she must end her relationship with Henry, she knows that she is seeing him for all the wrong reasons and must end it before he is really hurt. Through their experiences both mother and daughter discover that they are a lot alike and that they have the strength inside to carry on. Althea also realizes that maybe she can be her own person and doesn't have to depend on a man to make her feel fulfilled and happy. This is standard tv movie fare that is only made viewable by the above average performances of both Lavin and McNichol. Unfortunately given the screenplay's lack of depth there is only so much that either actress could have done for this film. All of their fellow actors are also good in their respective parts but again the weak script hinders everyone in this production and does them all a disservice. Had the actors in this film been given a more developed screenplay as well as the time to fully explore their character's feelings and motivations probably something much more substantial could have been produced. But regrettably they are not and that leaves us with this film, a film that while mildly enjoyable at some basic levels mainly manages to leave the viewer wondering how much better it could have been had more effort been put into the basic framework of the story, with better explanations for the actions of the characters involved. Buying note: This made for television movie has never been available on commercial home video; there are however other sources for this film as well as other rare Kristy McNichol movies that you might be looking for. *10-27-2007*

Kristy Trivia: Like Mom, Like Me was the first film in a much publicized million dollar - five movie deal that Kristy had signed with CBS, a deal that made her one of the highest paid child actors of the time.