Long Lost Son (2006 TV Movie) User Reviews

something amiss

[zysterx · 5/10 · 6 November 2008]

i know people have their own tastes and i'm not saying the ratings of 10 may not be genuine, but one has to question when the over-all ratings of a movie are 5.4 and people post a full 10.

it always causes me to believe that person has a personal agenda in doing so and the movie deserves it's 5.4.

maybe they are that actor or one of their relatives wanting to promote them or someone one connected to the film who would benefit financially, but something is glaringly wrong when i see that happen. it doesn't help me decide to see the film----it causes me to NOT want to see the film.

Storm Warnings

[sol-kay · 6/10 · 15 February 2009]

***MAJOR SPOILER ALERT*** Having the court rule against him, in his child custody case, Quinn Halloran decides to disappear together with his four year old son Mark into total oblivion. The two end up lost in the teeth of a vicious Pacific Tsunami off the California coast. Kristen the worried mother of Mark gets the terrible news that both her husband Quinn and four year old son Mark have gone under the waves never to be seen or heard from again.

It's now some 14 years later when viewing a video tape of her friends vacationing in the Caribbean that Kristen notice something very unusual. On the video tape there's this strapping young boy and his dad operating the boat that Kristen's friends were sailing on. The two sailors were Mark, now 18, and his dad Quinn Halloran!

Desperately trying to track down her long lost son, if in fact that's who he is, Kristen goes so far as to risk being arrested by faking a lost passport in order to get on the island, Saint Alicia. It's there that both Mark and Quinn are supposed to be living and working as tourist guides,in operating a sail boat, on.

Finally tracking down Mark, who's known on the island as Matthew Williams, and getting him to give her a boat ride, to see the sights of Saint Alicia, Kristine is now more then certain that he's the son she supposedly lost at sea some 14 years ago. It's Matthew's father known affectingly by everyone on Saint Alicia as Captain John who, after Matthew told him about his encounter with Kristen, smells a rat, or barracuda, and starts sweating bullets. It's there and then that Captain John decides to check out and take off for Porto Rico with a now bewildered and confused Matthew!

***SPOILER ALERT*** We as well as Kristen soon realize that both Matthew and his sweating and nose twitching, from an obvious nervous condition, dad are the real McCoy: Mark and Quinn Hallaran. This has a now cornered Quinn, or better yet Captain John, make a run for it, with an escape to Porto Rico now out of the question, before the long arm of the law finally catches up with him. Captain John is now, with the cat out of the bag, wanted for a whole slew of crimes that includes kidnapping passport violations and using a false name on his both car and boat licenses.

It was at first that Kristen was in trouble of getting thrown in jail and deported for trying illegally to get on the island in order to find her long lost son. But as it soon turned out Captain John in him being either so guilt ridden or just plain whacked out, on bottles of over 100% proof of the islands home made rum, who was now the most wanted man, or woman, on the island if not the entire Caribbean!

With the plus 4 category Hurricane Edwardo bearing down on Saint Alcia Captain John and his boy Matthew, who's still in a state of confusion, decide to make a B-line towards Salt Cay that's right straight dab in the path of rampaging hurricane. This has Kristen who had since learned to operate a motor boat, by non other then Matthew, to get to Salt Cay first! It's there in the swirling winds sands and ocean waves that she'll finally confront her good for nothing husband and get back from him what's so, by a unanimous decision of the L.A family court, rightfully hers: Kristen's long lost son Mark, or now Matthew, that Quinn or in his latest incarnation Captain John took away from her!

Too many plot holes!

[peace9-1 · 3/10 · 10 March 2007]

Gabrielle Anwar is luminous. It was not at all surprising that she had men all over the place either sweet-talking her or bending the rules for her. The young man who played Mark/Matthew made me wish I was about 25 years younger than I am! (grin)

But still... come on. I'll grant you that it would not be easy to wait a few weeks to get a passport before going to see your son, but the travel agent told her she would probably be detained and possibly deported back the U.S., in which case she would be right back where she started. And if she's so good at getting people to bend the rules for her, why didn't she contact whoever about getting the passport, explain her story, and try to get the process expedited? This was a plot device tossed in to the story to keep it from being about half an hour long, and the writer surely could have found *something* more believable!

And what is Kristine's problem with telling the truth? Why didn't she tell her story to the official at the immigration office once she arrived on the island without a passport? Why lie to him about losing her passport? And for that matter, why did he believe her? I don't know about anyone else, but I don't usually travel with a copy of my birth certificate in my purse. If she lost her passport on the plane, why would she have her birth certificate right there with her, and why didn't the immigration official question her about it? Same thing with the local police officer -- same lie and same problematic paperwork.

Speaking of the police officer, what's up with him telling Kristine "names and numbers -- I'm on it" as if he plans to investigate Quinn, then turning around and calling Quinn to joke with him about "this crazy American?" Another silly plot device to keep Kristine from going straight to Matthew to tell him, I suppose, since he told her it would impede his "investigation."

Finally at the end of the movie, as the three main characters sit in boats anchored at a salt flat with a hurricane approaching, Quinn (and the screenwriter) can't seem to figure out what he should do. One minute he's saying they can't go back to the island because "they're looking for me." He intends to make a run for it, and take Kristine and Matthew with him. A moment later, he has apparently remembered there's a hurricane on the way and calls the rescue helicopter, giving them his location, so he, Kristine, and Matthew can be picked up -- says he wants to do his time on this island rather than rotting in jail in Haiti, and he doesn't want Matthew or Kristine to get hurt. (This from the man who told his son his mother was dead, and let the mother believe her son was dead. But he doesn't want them to get hurt.) Another moment later, Kristine suggests he take the zodiac and get away, and he agrees, thereby making her (and presumably Matthew) an accessory to his escape from the law. (But he doesn't want them to get hurt.)

It's not a terrible movie, but it's also not one I would watch again.

above-average TV movie

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 31 December 2006]

Gabrielle Anwar is Karen, a woman who believes her son and husband to be dead for the past 14 years - until she sees a young man and her husband in a vacation video. "The Long Lost Son" is about a woman who will not be stopped from going to the resort location and tracking down her child.

This film was a real tour de force for Anwar, who gives a beautiful performance as the mother. The scene where she hears on the answering machine that the search at sea for her husband and child will have to be abandoned is amazing. So upset that she is unable to walk, she doubles over and leans on furniture to get across the room, where she completely collapses. All of her physical mannerisms and emotions rang true throughout.

In order to give the character more obstacles, however, the writer added a plot hole - Karen buys her ticket for this island, but she has no passport. The travel agent suggests that she bring her birth certificate and driver's license. Uh, this is 2006. She brings a birth certificate that's not even an official copy. Anyone who has ever traveled to a foreign country knows that if you have a ticket, you can be issued a passport immediately. Naturally she runs into trouble when she arrives and her story about her husband is not believed as he is well-liked on the island and a friend of the police chief's.

I had one other problem with this film, and that is, with Karen's son missing for 14 years, how could she have recognized him so readily? In real life, when the police thought they had found Eton Patz some years after he was kidnapped, the parents broke down when the saw the recent photo because they weren't sure that was their son. And look at Princess Anastasia. It's obviously not so easy. In this case, I bought it because I went with the mystical connection between mother and child - but really, if she had seen her husband on the video first, being suspicious about the young man would have made more sense.

What makes this film above average is Anwar's performance and seeing a new actor, Chace Crawford, who plays Matthew/Mark, the son. He brought a naturalness and warmth to his role - and it doesn't hurt that he's a major hunk. You'll be seeing a lot of him.

An awful movie made with a budget of $ 400,--???

[lex-vaniterson · 2/10 · 20 August 2010]

I can't believe anyone who was in or behind this picture can be proud of it. Gabrielle Anwar plays awful in this hunt for her son, which is captured by her make believe nasty husband. He raises the boy in a loving way (although, it seems like it) and turns him into a real world citizen, happy too. In a day or so 15 years are forgotten, the father sees he was wrong and likely ends on an island of 1 square mile to die a dreadful dead. The boy forgets over sudden nearly every day of his happy life with his dad and runs with his mother to LA (I've seen many places in the USA, but would rather live in Kabul than in LA). Is this happy ever after? A very flat movie, with bad digital effects, poor performance and a laughable story. 90 minutes of my life in the trash bin - it's a pity

Worth a watch

[cameramom · 7/10 · 3 January 2024]

True, there are a few plot holes. Someone mentioned how could she get into a country with a birth certificate and license? Well, 15-20 years ago, it was possible. Yes, it's a little absurd to think she'd be traveling with a birth certificate if she supposedly had a passport, she's a terrible liar, and you'd think she would've come prepared with proof that Quinn was in her life previously. However, even with those things, it's entertaining, AND refreshing that this isn't one of those movies where someone gets killed. Enjoyable movie for a weeknight watch, or as you're multitasking as you're on the computer, putting a puzzle together, etc.

Would definitely recommend.

Absolutely Outrageous!

[cleanfun-1 · 11 August 2010]

So the wife leaves her husband because he put her through law school and bought a boat to start a business in the Caribbean. Real hard life. She never makes use of her education, wants a divorce, uses lawyers to take everything, including the kid. All he wants to do is make it work for them. Loves her, loves his family. He wasn't a cheater or a womanizer or an alcoholic or anything like that. He just wants to build a better life for his child. She will have none of it.

So the father fakes his and his son's death. He goes on to raise a young man who can speak 4 languages, has seen a lot of the world, is cultured, educated, well mannered, healthy, and wealthy. Not to mention he lives in paradise.

Meanwhile, she remarries and has 2 very problematic children. Stepson is going to court, stepdaughter is about to get kicked out of her first week in college. Obviously she's a real champ of a parent.

She finds out her son is alive, throws new family in trash can on her way out of the country illegally, and races to find him. She acts like he's a dog or some other pet, although he's already 18 "she wants him".

She ruins her x hubby's life by getting the law after him and threatening him with life in prison, although he is genuine and did everything to make the marriage work, as you'll see. It's guaranteed that her son's life will be degraded by moving to Los Angeles, the butthole of the world. Her stepchildren and her new husband have some major adjustments to overcome as well.

Dad ends up starving to death on a deserted island... She gets custody of the ... "man" and lives happily ever after.

I have so many issues with this I don't even know where to begin. First, anybody who's been at sea since they were 4yo is not going to settle down in L.A. for more than a week. Secondly, the son wouldn't have left the only parent he ever knew for some stranger. Nor would he leave the only life he knew. Even if he did, he would swim back from L.A. after a very short time. Guaranteed.

I wont even get in to the ethical implications. Suffice to say that this movie serves as proof of how sick and backwards the inner workings of some feminine minds can be.

The immoral of the story... kill the good husband, mind control the good son. Be selfish because you're a woman and everyone else exists to entertain you.

This movie is trash & promotes trashy values, brought to you by Lifetime, a trashy network. At best, Lifetime shows you exactly what NOT to do.

Unlikeable Key Characters

[skpn123 · 2/10 · 30 April 2024]

From the first second Gabrielle Anwar's character is the witch I see in too many manipulative legal matters designed to keep children away from loving fathers. Absolutely and completely no redeeming factors. From from the first scene she is trying to force a sensitive child to paint between the lines - as if it mattered at that age and frankly a thinner brush was needed for most people.

Chace Crawford was very charming but the emotional range of his character in the film is very limited. I hope he is capable of more as he has the looks to go far.

Craig Eric Sheffer was appropriately brooding as a disaffected Navy dad who felt pinned in a corner by his lawyer wife. Far more relatable of the two parents and definitely the best to bring up a sensitive child. I shudder to think how 'Mommy Dearest' would have ripped him apart with her controlling bitter ways. She doesn't even tell him the truth when she hires the boat.

Family Reunion

[lavatch · 7/10 · 12 May 2023]

It was a test of perseverance, love, and determination. A mother seeks to reconnect with her son, who was given up for dead. Now, fifteen years later, she reunites with the boy and seeks justice for the crimes committed by her husband.

Kristen Sheppard is the mom who travels from L. A. to a small island in the Caribbean to reconnect with young Matthew. While the mother-son reunion was touching, it raised the question of why the young man, who vividly recalls things that his mother told him, cannot recognize her.

Also, it was puzzling how Quinn Halloran, the father who kidnapped his child, could evade the authorities for fifteen years. By the end, the castaway Quinn appears to be the "tefflon" man. Is he cable of manning up to take responsibility for his big "mistake"?

Great Movie for a week night.

[yourleftyray2002 · 9/10 · 4 August 2006]

I saw this movie because of the previews. Chase Crawford is one hot, clean, decent guy. I am glad I watched it because his dad was an old familiar face to me. I thought the woman playing the mother got in many ways what she deserved until the very end. I don't mean a mother should lose a child for any reason but her attitude really needed some work. I do not understand why there is no information on this movie as yet but at least it now shows up when I request the title. I think that over the next few years the name Chace Crawford will appear more and more. At least I hope so. He brought that special something that made me root for the entire family. Dad got what he deserved in the end too. A place to sit and reflect. ha ha. Such dedication from a mother is something I would like to see more of today on TV. Maybe the networks will soon drop those stupid reality shows and go back to things like LONG LOST SON. Anyway I highly recommend this movie. It is just one notch above a movie of the week and will bring out feelings you may have not felt in a long while with the stuff being put on TV today.

This is a real feel good movie!

[paperpusher75 · 10/10 · 20 August 2006]

This movie was so touching to me. Especially as a mother of two myself I can really empathize with Gabrielle Anwar's character in this movie. Whoever chose the cast for this movie did an excellent job of choosing Chace Crawford to play her grown son. He is very handsome. I looked this movie up online to see what this guys name was. I swear I thought he was my daycare provider's son. They could literally be twins! This young man Chace Crawford brought a whole lot of feeling and emotion to this movie. I don't think the movie would've been this great if they didn't cast him in it. I hope to see this young man in more movies very soon!

underrated

[redeyedtree · 9/10 · 8 June 2012]

I am a little surprised at the low ratings this movie has received. The concept is a simple one, love and loss; it is eloquently portrayed in Long Lost Son. In the case of Quinn, he was a monster in what he did to his wife and son but not so much so that when he had the opportunity to kill her... he did not. When cornered he admitted what he did and gave them back each other, knowing that he may never see Mark again. Mark took a leap of faith into his mother's arms, leaving all he had known to be with a family he did not know. The unsung hero, I think, is Steve - the step-father. Without getting too personal I have to say that his support was not just that of an unsung hero but almost that of a superhero. Quinn was a conman to everyone including himself and there is no excuse, no reason to put a mother (or father) or child... through such a violent and senseless separation. It is the strong ones that never give up hope despite the burning madness to either give up or block out. Maybe I like this movie so much because of the parallels in my life and maybe that is the best reason of all to recommend it!!!

Chace Crawford steals this film

[guilfisher-1 · 29 October 2008]

Chace Crawford, an up and coming young actor, walks off with this movie for TV. He's charming and does a decent acting job with a featured role, his first. Story revolves around a man who takes his son and fakes a boat accident and disappears with the result that he and his son were lost at sea. This leaves the wife, a shrew, behind. She remarries and fifteen years go by when we discover the father and son aren't dead.

As expected, the mother learns this and goes on a wild search to find them. This is where the film goes down hill. This woman seems to break every law in entering another country, which is impossible without a passport of which she has none, nor birth certificate. She actually becomes a rather insipid person and you root for the father and son to lose her.

Gabrielle Anwar plays the long lost mother badly. Looking to young for the part, they try getting her hair up for the older woman, but then suddenly she's running along the beach with her long hair flowing behind her in the breeze. Her mouth also bothered me. Craig Sheffer does much better as the father and evokes sympathy from his audience as his reasons for the kidnapping make sense. To keep his son from becoming a mommies's boy. Unfortunately the shrew wins out. The farewell scene between the father and son, brought some heartfelt emotions from young Crawford.

There is some spectacular scenery of the islands and the sea in this film. Gorgeous photography and the good looking Chace Crawford make it a film worth watching.

Mom Dates Son

[britton-82367 · 8/10 · 2 November 2016]

Mildly entertaining movie about the romance between a Mom and her hot Long Lost Son. Set in a tropical paradise, Mom and Son go on many romantic dates. You can cut the sexual tension with a knife.

Chase Crawford makes his debut here in an admirable fashion. Gabrielle Anwar as his Mom/Girlfriend is adequate in her role, and wears a series of tiny fetching bikinis on her romps with her Son.

*SPOILER* One does wonder why Mom doesn't tell her Son who she is soon after their first date, but perhaps that would have spoiled the mood and put an end to further dates.

Perfect movie for Valentines Day.

A mother losing her son and finding him again for good and for worse

[clanciai · 9/10 · 24 January 2023]

Gabrielle Anwar makes an unforgettable performance as the mother who loses her son and refuses to accept it and then regains him, by personal extreme efforts breaking all laws and barriers, like only a desperate mother can do. Her performance is utterly convincing, but so is also that of all the others - the father, understandable and sympathetic in spite of his obvious transgressions, and the son, Chase Crawford, as her 18-year old son recovered after 14 years. The story touches on the incredible, not any mother would recognize a lost son after 14 years, especially as he was lost in tender childhood, but here motherhood triumphs in supreme intuition. It's a problematic family drama with many debatable issues about fatherhood and motherhood - if father and mother have to separate, who has the right of their son? Motherhood usually wins, but the father is not without a case.

I rather enjoyed this made for TV movie, strikes authentic.

[TxMike · 20 March 2008]

We don't see very many TV movies anymore, because most evenings the DVD player is spinning a recent release. But we were attracted to this one. It involves a man and woman whose marriage has gone stale, they are going through a divorce that the husband doesn't want, and there is a 4 year old son in the middle.

Gabrielle Anwar is the mother, Kristen Sheppard. She seems to have lost her love for her husband, who had put her through law school. It is 1992 and now she is enlisting the help of her legal friends to put together the divorce petition, and her husband is afraid he is being locked out of their son's life.

Craig Sheffer is the husband and father, Quinn Halloran. A former Navy man, he loves the water and sailing, and their young son Mark appears to like it as well. As the movie begins he only has visitation rights one weekend a month.

On one visitation, Quinn takes Mark out on the boat even though inclement weather and winds are forecast. To make a short statement, the boat ends up overturned, and the searchers find no trace of the dad or the son. Mom is broken up, and the movie switches to 14 years later, 2006, and she is re-married and apparently happy.

However, some friends just came back from a vacation trip to a small island near South America and their home video shows a "Captain John" and his 18 year old son in charge of the boat they chartered, and Kristen recognizes her husband in the video, and suspects that the young man is her son, thought to be dead for 14 years.

So, most of the movie is to see if Kristen can track down her former husband and her son and establish the relationship she never was able to.

Chace Crawford, a good-looking young man from Texas, is the grown son, Matthew Williams / Mark Halloran.

I found myself sympathizing with the father, Quinn. He apparently did a great job of raising the boy, and only spoke admiringly of his mom Kristen, who he was told died in a house fire. I know how hard it is when divorce splits up a family and, even though what Quinn did was legally wrong, I did not find it as "wrong" as Kristen's attempts to lock him out of their son's life.

SPOILERS: Kristen did catch up with them, and had a nice day boating and visiting with her son, while Quinn was elsewhere. But when he found out Kristen was there, Quinn and Mark met off on another small island as a hurricane was threatening. Kristen and Mark escaped with the help of a rescue helicopter, but Quinn took the small boat away. It ended with him stranded on nothing more than an rocky outcropping, and we don't know how much longer he will survive. But at least he had 18 years with his son, and he doesn't have to endure a prison sentence.

An old favorite SPOILERS HERE

[hawk-58 · 8/10 · 11 November 2023]

This movie never fails to make me cry. Something not mentioned here is that the story is based - perhaps loosely, who knows? - on actual events. Yes, a man did fake his and his very young son's death and hide out from the wife and mother for many years. Horrible.

Gabrielle Anwar's character was so focused on getting her son back, after she spotted him in a friend's vacation video many years later (why is it so hard to believe she would know her own son, after grieving him for 14 years?), that she was quite short-tempered and unpleasant for most of the movie. We can only imagine what it was like going through that kind of trauma. Her current husband was a champ, so understanding. He must have loved her very much.

Chace Crawford was perfect as the son. I was a huge fan of his in Gossip Girl and am surprised his career has not been more successful. He was such a lovely young man, in looks and personality, it was heart-rending to see him reunited with his mother.

This is one of my favorite TV movies and I certainly would recommend it to the mothers out there. It will touch your heart. By the way, Gabrielle Anwar and Craig Sheffer are exes and have a child together. One wonders if this was a difficult shoot for them, or if it was cathartic.

what kind of boat was in the movie

[robertsimmons47 · 23 July 2008]

can anyone tell me the kind, type, or model of cabin cruiser boat owned by Craawford and his father in this movie??? It was the power boat that the son was on when the mother first contacted him. It was the boat the he used for "charters". Now i am just trying to fill up the ten line requirement for a posting This boat may be called a cabin cruiser or it may be called something else. Please respond to [e-mail] thank you.The boat was big enough for a person to walk into standing up. The 3 of them were on the boat at the end of the movie. It had windows around the sides so you could see out .