Amber's story was not for me about a child murderer who was never caught, it was about modern America's attitude to raising children where the mum has to work, while leaving her child to be looked after by someone else.In which case this "someone else" was a relatively disturbed old man who could see how the little girl he was asked to look after while his mum worked, was not being cared for properly by her own mother.This true story demonstrated the mum's irresponsibility toward her own little girl, because mum needed to work to pay the bills.How we in the western world solve this problem of latch key children is another issue.Because in the ideal, young children need two mature stable parents to raise them.Young children should never be left with strangers, no matter how friendly they might be.

Remember, the director, Keoni Waxman, is responsible for how the actors perform, under his/her 'direction'. Blame him.What left a powerful and lasting impression in my head was babysitter Glen Park(Myron Natwick). He stole the show for me. What a face! Myron didn't look as bad in younger days, but you can still see it. He played the part so well that at times I forgot and thought Myron was the kidnapper.Can't find much personal biog on him but does lots of character work; a relative of late great 'Grim' Natwick, motion picture animator for Disney and Fleischer Studios.I don't know how much research was done, but they did portray Glen Park to have violent tendencies if not obeyed. He threatened Nicole several times during the kidnap sequence. What amazes me is how Sharon (her mother) felt he was quirky ten years prior.He repeatedly went against her wishes about buying the child clothes and junk food. Yet she allowed him to babysit Nicole for three years? Only when he didn't bring her home that day, did she wise up. And if Glen Park looked anything like Myron, I definitely would have stayed clear of him. Sorry Myron.As for the five year sentence, he had psych problems in that he did not want to sever that relationship. He took it hard. He honestly felt he was the responsible parent and not Sharon; with no record of abuse, he gets off quite easy. He practically built a shrine to Nicole. Hmmmm.... He's out of prison now.Once the movie ended, it was Glen Park alone who stood out in my mind....ewww. Good performance!

silvergoddess, I have never laughed so hard reading a review as I laughed at yours. "U heartless bastards!" "Heartless s.o.b.s!" "You can all go to hell!" LOL, sweetie, these reviews are for the MOVIE, not for what happened to Amber. It's a bad movie with bad acting. Reviews of movies don't reflect the real-life events behind them, they just reflect whether or not the movie is good. It isn't, and it doesn't make anyone a "heartless bastard" to say so. Get a grip.I reiterate my original review from 2009 (oh, and to the twit 'myspecialparadise' who thinks that I must be offended by Elizabeth Rohm's character in L&O being a lesbian, NOPE- I'm just offended by her lousy acting. I couldn't care less if anyone is gay or plays a gay character, LOL): Elizabeth Rohm was the weakest actress of all the Law and Order ADA's and her acting is even worse here. Her attempts at a Texas accent are amateurish and unrealistic. Nor can she adequately summon the intense emotions needed to play the mother of a kidnapped child; at times while her daughter is missing she manages to sound only vaguely annoyed, as if she can't remember where she left her keys.This is an important true story, so it's too bad that the awful acting of the lead actress distracts so much from the message. The rest of the cast is talented enough, but they just can't overcome Rohm's tendency to simply lay on a particularly thick imitation of a Southern drawl whenever actual acting is required.

I am from the Dallas/Fort Worth area and lived in Arlington for a few years. This movie was way off as far as making it look like Arlington. I saw mountains in the background of one scene! Texas doesn't have mountains. I guess that happens when a movie that is supposed to be in Texas is filmed in Canada. The accents are also really bad. They should have gotten actors from Texas to play the parts. There a lot of aspiring actors from Texas out in Hollywood. The movie is really sad though, because it is a true story. I pray that the killer is found and convicted. The one good thing is that bc of her death, we now have the Amber Alert to help find missing children quickly after they are abducted.