Tim O'Brien's In the Lake of the Woods (1996)

Senatorial candidate John Waylan (Peter Strauss) is riding high in the polls with the help of his self-promoting campaign manager Tony Carbo (Peter Boyle). As always his wife Kathy (Kathleen Quinlan) is by his side even though his career is ruining their marriage. But when a press disclosure about his past destroys his campaign and Kathy disappears without a trace John is left alone to find answers and reflect on his past.System Requirements:Run Time: 91 minutes Genre: DRAMA UPC: 796019805179 Manufacturer No: 80517 Product Description

Made for TV movie and it shows.

While Tim O'Brien has written several novels that could each be described as the definitive story of Vietnam, this movie, based on one of O'Brien's best novels, feels half-hearted at best. The adapted script, the direction, and acting all feel underwhelming. Kathleen Quinlan gives a fine performance, but Peter Strauss clearly fails to deal with material well above his capabilities. In better hands, with a bigger budget, and a longer development cycle, this could have been so much more.

Some side notes:
This may have appeared on Lifetime at some point, but it originally aired on Fox.
Mary Higgins Clark did NOT write the novel. I don't know why someone would tag this movie with her name.
The ending of the movie differs GREATLY from the novel's ending.
Apparently, there were several difficulties in bringing the novel to the screen - which is why the movie appeared two years after the novel's initial publication date - but my memory is too hazy to recall what they were. July 31, 2008

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