It’s not a surprise that Monday night’s Lifetime network production Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story would attract a substantial audience: It was a fact-based story about a nightmare that any parent might both fear as a reality and revel in as entertainment. The tale of Tiffany Rubin (Taraji P. Henson, excellent in a carefully calibrated performance) and her search for the son her ex-husband essentially kidnapped, was compelling, all the more so for being based on true events.
The movie did a lot of ominous foreshadowing: Tiffany’s mother (the always terrific Beverly Todd) warned her that Tiffany’s ex, Sean Baek’s Jeff Lee, was not to be trusted in taking their young son, Kobe (a fine actor, Drew Davis) on a spurious trip to Disneyworld. When your mom warns you about your ex-husband, in TV-movie-land, that means lock the door!
The idea that the kid was whisked off to South Korea, where Lee would have legal custody of his son, was suitably startling and shocking, as was the fact that this nightmare lasted more than a year for Tiffany. By the time Lost’s Terry O’Quinn became her ally as part of the American Association of Lost Children, you knew that what would result was a kind of righteous reverse-kidnapping, to return the child to his mother.
As always with these fact-based melodramas, you can end up thinking, I’ll bet you could make a completely different movie from the father’s point of view, and he’d look like a hero. But Taken From Me used the power of the mother-son bond, with a script that didn’t shy away from the heart-rending pain its central characters endured. Plus, when Terry O’Quinn is on your side, you just feel better, don’t you? (My, how far this actor’s image has come since the days when he was best-known for his super-great performance in the chiller The Stepfather!)
All in all, an effective piece of maternal-rights agitprop, and a helluva lot more engaging to watch on Monday night than Skins or Harry’s Law.
Agree? Disagree?
Twitter: @kentucker
aw man, i forgot to watch john locke!
So did I! D:
This is the Movie was the BOMB
I like this ya’ll should of watched it
The Tiffany Rubin Story was really touching.Just finished watching in. I commend the strenght and courage of that woman, she is a true mother going to any lenghts for her child.
It was great. Taraji P. Henson is a downright fantastic actor.
Fantastic film! Taraji ain`t no joke. I`d watch her in anything.
This was so amazing taraji p was the BOMB
Wasn’t Taraji P Henson nominated for an Oscar not that long ago? And she is now in a Lifetime movie?
So what`s that suppose to mean? Good acting is acting no matter where you perform it on. And besides it ain`t like its everyday they have good, juicy parts for black actresses anywhere!
Well said.
Exactly. Halle Berry won an Oscar and she went off and made the God awful movie Cat Woman. Charlize Theron won an Oscar then made Aeon Flux but got redemption when she guest starred on Arrested Development on FOX/Television. And lets not forget about the great Dame Judi Dench (Oscar Winner) who goes back & forth between movies & British television.
Yes and therefore? Doing a Lifetime movie does not mean the end of one’s career, nor does it make the story less meaningful or less challenging, in fact, I would think it would be more challenging since the budget of a made for TV movie is smaller than a big budget film. Tariji’s career is flourishing just fine, hell she was in The Karate Kid & Date Night last year, plus several movies in post and pre production.
she is a true mother and im so touched of this story.
as opposed to an “untrue” mother.
She probably meant that as sad as it is not every mother would go to those lengths for her child.
I too loved the movie and the performances. Taraji, Drew, Terry, Beverly & the rest of the crew gave great performances. And one other thing, Sean Baek is HOT. Looking forward to seeing him in future projects.
The movie was great! I love how Taraji plays her role. Pray for all those who have been taken
When John Locke is on your side, the enemy better run and hide, ‘cuz soon they’ll be smokified!
the movie was really touching!! i would want to watch it again. it a wonderful movie.
Outstanding movie, then to see the mini-documentary of the real Tiffany Rubin’s story really “brought it home”. I’d never heard of this story. I can remember in around the same time period, a similar thing happened to a little White boy–the mom took the boy to Brazil, died and the father fought the rich in-laws to get him back–the story was on the national news for weeks. It’s glad to see such a story about a child of color get some attention, even if it’s after the fact. Children of color being abducted is just as newsworthy. I wish there wasn’t such a disparity.
That’s not just the best asnwer. It’s the bestest answer!
I think there should be more white people’s stories getting told, there are white people with bigger problems than this, and there story never gets told
I don’t have cable, (shocking, I know!) so I missed this. But, I really enjoyed the review. Taraji P. Henson can do no wrong. She is so invested in every role she takes. I love her strength and passion. I wish I could’ve seen it. Maybe it will be released on DVD sometime…
Ziggy, you’ll be able to watch through Lifetimetv website.
ken tucker, you write about skins and a lifetime movie but no mention of the awesome Chuck episode from last night? sad.
Sounds like a good movie. I’ll have to catch it when it re-airs on Saturday.
It was very good. I am not a regular Lifetime watcher despite my female status, but am a huge fan of Taraji.