Mistaken Identity (1999)

enjoy the movie

It was an awesome movie I really like Melissa Gilbert.The movie was in good condition.
Thank You
Mike
April 11, 2008

Scarey, but true!!!

A good portrayal of an uncanny mix-up of newborn babies, something that is a parent's worst nightmare!! How they worked together to share both babies, is truly a wonderful thing to see. Not all situations would work this well, but due to their devotion and love for each other, it does work, and very well at that.
Really enjoyed this movie, a good, heartwarming story!! November 10, 2007

Family is whatever you make of it

This movie was recently on Lifetime Movie Network and I decided to watch it because heaven knows there isn't anything halfway edible on network TV. I actually make it a policy not to watch those melodramatic telepics because they are usually way too dramatic and promulgate fear mongering. But I am a big fan of "Desperately Seeking Susan" star, Rosanna Arquette and "Little House on the Prairie" star, Melissa Gilbert; so I knew this had to be a first-rate movie. And this movie is different from the rest; it's a feel good movie with a very positive message.

Originally titled "Switched at Birth" (re-titled as "Mistaken Identity" for the UK release & the US distribution), this TV movie tells the story of two mothers who give birth to sons on the same day and in the same hospital. Linda Wells (Rosanna) suspects that she's holding the wrong baby but the attending nurse just passes it off as first mother's jitters. Several months later when Linda sues her ex-lover for paternity it is revealed that he isn't Luke's father. And she isn't his biological mother. Linda pieces the puzzle together and the trail leads her back to Sarah Barlow (Melissa Gilbert) and little Morgan; the mother and son who shared a hospital room with her.

At first, Sarah and Linda decide to unite and be in each others' lives. But then Darryl (James McCaffrey) reenters Linda's life and decides to stir up trouble when he finds out that there could be a windfall of money coming his way (either from a hospital settlement due to their gross negligence or from the Barlows who are very well off, or from both.) If he was ultraistic and really wanted to be a part of his son's life that would have been fine, but this money-driven pig only had dollar signs in his eyes. He convinces Linda to move in with him and then he pursues a legal battle against Sarah and James Barlow (David Andrews.) However, Darryl eventually cools off when he finds out that he may not see a penny if the hospital finds out that there was an amicable settlement between the two parties.

Finally, Linda comes to her senses and leaves Darryl (this human-leech) and he loses all appeals trying to get a piece of the action. Linda and Sarah eventually move next-door to each other, so they can raise their kids as brothers.

Rosanna and Melissa both gave exceptional performances; I can only hope that they work together again because there was a real synergy between the two. Rosanna played the harried single mother living on borrowed time very well because the hopelessness and sadness in her face was very believable. And Melissa played the upper-middle class home-maker to the letter; at first she came off as standoffish and snobbish but as the movie progressed it was apparent that she cared very much for Linda and Luke.

I really enjoyed this movie because it has a very positive message. And that message is that family is whatever you make of it. Just because a mother did not give birth to her baby does not mean she could love him or her any less. It is love that unites a family; not blood.



August 17, 2007

Love this film

One day as I was flipping through the channels I came across this film at it's beginning and could not stop watching it. I tend to love everything Melissa Gilbert is in and this is a really a cool story. It's about two women who's babies were switched in the hospital. They take them home and after years of raising them find out that they were switched. I won't get into why they find out, but it's very interesting. This movie is very suspensful and I had to see how this was going to end. The way the women try to work everything out is very "Hollywood" and maybe a little unrealistic, but it's still a really good movie. It is based on a true story. August 30, 2005

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