Race Against Time: The Search for Sarah (1996)

Powerful

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Race Against Time: The Search For Sarah was a 1996 TV Movie starring Richard Crenna and Patty Duke as owners of local Inn who's one daughter goes missing on the eve of an important awards dinner honoring her dad. Since the girl has been in trouble before, known for prior runs in with the law involving drinking and long absences from home, at first most people assume she's returned to her old ways. Her mother (Duke) however cant shake the feeling that something is wrong, although getting anyone to believe her becomes a challenge after a local cop in a nearby town misidentifies one of her kidnappers as the missing girl, reporting she is alive and well.Much of the film revolves around Crenna's character, a man seemingly known around town as compassionate and helpful, an approachable, caring guy, who for some reason has never connected with his kids the same way he connects with friends and acquaintances. Seems he suffered a personal loss in his childhood and given his shaky health secretly fears he could die young as well, making it harder for him to get close to his children, secretly fearing he'll leave them the way he was left, something he seems adamant about not putting through. That emotional distance however is tested however as evidence mounts that his missing daughter may have met with foul play and may not be off partying as everyone (except her mom) initially suspects. Unable to control his emotions, Crenna's patriarch slowly takes the lead in The Search For Sarah, nearly getting himself killed in the process. The best scene maybe when Crenna's character breaks down in the hospital as his wife admonishes his distant behavior as well as the reckless way he has been caring for himself as he has become more submerged in the investigation, dealing with both a fear for his daughter's safety and guilt for not having been the kind of parent he should have been.While Duke's character eventually exposes the bad ID and mistake by local police, finally getting law enforcement involved properly, Crenna's character receives a tip from someone he gave lodging to at the Inn previously when she and her child were homeless after a fire. Convinced he maybe dying, he follows the lead, gun in tow, to confront the kidnappers and try to rescue Sarah (as well as the tipster who by now has run afoul of the criminals herself). Given his age and health it may not be the smartest move he could make and it's a race, pardon the pun, to see of if his wife can get the police to find him before his confrontation with the kidnappers ends in more tragedy.This film isn't extraordinary, at times its fairly predictable, the supporting cast is solid but doesn't get much opportunity to showcase themselves apart from the others. Liza Porter is given some strong moments as the oldest daughter who has her own issues with her detached father as well as her trouble making sister Sarah. Missy Crider gives a good show as the troubled 20 something who's abusive boyfriend and drinking and drug habits inevitably cause much of the trouble here. Crenna gets the best dramatic scenes by far as Duke is largely stuck as the stoic matron, though she does flash signs of helplessness as the search gets cold and law enforcement wont help.Overall this is an average to above average family film, not a crime drama per se and not a thriller or mystery (there isn't much mystery in what happened to Sarah). The dramatic climax and ending are entertaining, if again a bit predictable. Crenna's scenes in the hospital, both when he's recovering and when Sarah has been found, are among the best in the film. The movie was based on a real life abduction and rescue.

The premise was a good one: Parents desperately searching for a daughter that the Police refuse to acknowledge as missing. But this movie fails miserably in a lot of ways.Patty Duke and Richard Crenna cannot be proud of what I can only term a very badly written script. One that they were forced to enact. There are so many unbelievable scenes, with badly written dialogue, that I sat here saying, 'I don't BELIEVE this!' numerous times.And the Producers decided to enhance the seriousness of the plot, by making everything grey/beige: the sets; the furniture; the clothes; and, I swear, the makeup; and whoever decided to do Patty Duke's hair that way????These are two of my very favorite actors, and even though, 'Art imitates life' in this case it HAS to be a very poor imitation of what went on. How many scenes must we be forced to endure with Patty wringing her hands, while Richard, the Police, other family members and friends show total indifference? C'mon, this girl was missing for way over 48 hours! SOMEONE must have believed she was in trouble, other than the Mother and the one daughter?And the denouement was totally trite, and completely unbelievable....