By Geno McGahee
They don’t make TV movies like they used to. You don’t really see many topical flicks any more. It all changed with Joey Buttafuoco and OJ Simpson. Those two guys forever shifted the tone of these made for TV films. But before they began to trend, we got very decent and meaningful made for TV films. Films like COCAINE: ONE MAN’S ADDICTION where Dennis Weaver was a drug addict and INTIMATE STRANGERS where Dennis Weaver was a wife beater. They were relatable…especially if Dennis Weaver was beating you while snorting cocaine.
STRANGE VOICES stars FACTS OF LIFE star, Nancy McKeon, as Nicole Glover, a gifted teen that is heading into a career as an architect. She has the ideal life with successful parents and a loving sister, Lisa (Trisha Leigh Fisher). Her mother, Lynn (Valerie Harper) and father Dave (Stephen Macht), are very supportive and even allows her to date Jeff (Robert Krantz). Jeff is a teen that looks 40 and is going bald. I would have put my foot down and told my daughter that she is not dating some balding geek, but I think Lynn and Dave are more accepting.
When life is good, Lynn and Dave get along fantastically, but when the shit hits the fan, they begin to fall apart. Nicole begins to hear voices and acting strange. Her father’s computer is apparently communicating with her and she begins to get some guidance from the voices in her head. She thinks that Jeff is screwing around on her with her roommate and confronts them. As she stormed around, packing her bag and yelling, I couldn’t help but think about shoulder pads. Why did all women have shoulder pads in the 80s? Was it to be more imposing in the work force? I’m not sure. It was never a turn on for me. I’m glad they got rid of them.
At a family party, Nicole begins to lose it. She begins the party by telling her sister’s boss (she’s a babysitter) that she hates her kids. She walks away and ends up in her dad’s office. Dave and Lynn run over when they hear a large crashing sound. Nicole is smashing her dad’s computer. She even throws the monitor out of the window. All hell breaks loose and they take her to the hospital where she is diagnosed with schizophrenia, but Dave isn’t having it. The doctor wants to kick the shit out of Dave, but he lets it slide and they take Nicole home against his wishes. When she takes the new meds, she levels out, but she eventually tosses them in the trash and she begins to raise hell again.
The impact of Nicole’s illness is felt throughout the family. Lisa feels overlooked, Dave works more hours to avoid it, and Lynn yells at everyone. She blames Dave mostly and screams at him continually. Poor guy. He works all those hours and comes home to chaos. I have to give Valerie Harper credit for her tremendous overacting. Her rage even gets pointed at Nicole, asking her why “are you doing this to me?” When Dave tries to help, guess what happens. She starts tearing into him again. He needs to dump Lynn. All she does is bitch.
After some ups and downs, the family settles, deals with the issue and makes some progress. STRANGE VOICES is a good, made for TV movie and it tries to be helpful. There are families that deal with this issue and it shows the issues that many contend with, both from the perspective of the person with the illness and those around them. It also shows what happens when you’re married to a total bitch and you have a daughter with such issues. Poor Dave.
Nancy McKeon did a great job here. Outside of the shoulder pads, she owned the role and it was great to see her in something other than FACTS OF LIFE. She proved she could act very well and so too goes for the rest of the cast. Trisha Leigh Fisher was also a very good choice for the role of the sister and played well off of McKeon. Points to Harper for her tremendous overacting. She was very amusing.
I highly recommend STRANGE VOICES. It came from the good old days when they made movies that went straight to television that had thought and purpose, rather than just trying to jump on the latest sensational headline. My only gripe is that Dennis Weaver was nowhere to be found. I would have loved to see a crossover film where he was on drugs, beating his wife or complaining about a trucker chasing him down to the Glover family. It would have worked.
Rating: 7/10
