Kidnapped: The Hannah Anderson Story
May. 23,2015
On the afternoon of August 3, 2013, 16-year-old Hannah Anderson was abducted after finishing cheerleading practice in a San Diego suburb. When the bodies of her mother and brother were found in the burned home of family friend James DiMaggio later that day, an AMBER Alert was issued, and a frantic multi-state manhunt for Hannah began. For a week she was kept prisoner by the increasingly unstable DiMaggio as they made their way across the state. One week later, the two were found in Idaho and DiMaggio was killed in a shootout with FBI agents, leaving Hannah as the sole survivor. As the dust settled, questions began to emerge about the nature of the relationship between Hannah and her kidnapper...and what really happened?
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This biography tells the true story of a man taking advantage of his best friend separating from his family, and when the former loses his job, he literally goes berserk and kills the friend's wife and young son and goes off with the daughter as his hostage. He thinks he can start life anew with the girl but his haunting past of his father's threats and subsequent suicide, leads police to realize that the guy is definitely suicide prone.The film is also excellent because it tells of the media frenzy after the kidnapping is thwarted and the killer himself is killed. The media will do anything to sustain a story, even going so far that something was going on between the two. This causes the young lady to tell what happened on television to put the vicious gossip to rest.Fine acting by all concerned in this tragic tale.
KIDNAPPED: THE HANNAH ANDERSON STORY is a gripping, well made thriller about the rescue of the San Diego teenager that captivated Southern California a couple of years back. The film actually begins with Hannah's rescue and then dives into the sad and tragic way that her behavior following the ordeal was misinterpreted by a skeptical press. As Hannah herself says in the film, "If I smile it means I don't miss them, if I don't smile then I'm a bitch." We see how a girl in emotional distress is treated like a tabloid sensation and her attempts to move on are hampered by endless harassment.Finally, the stress sends Hannah on a quest to clear her name, which she does on the Today Show. I remember watching this interview when it first aired and a lot of it seems to be presented identically as Hannah finally gets a chance to tell her side of the story. What then unfolds is not the murderous schemes of the so-called Lakeside Lolita, but the tragic story of the victimization of a teen-aged girl at the hands of so-called family friend Jim DiMaggio. We see his creepy crush on her (explained in Hannah's own words, taken from actual interviews and chat room sessions) and how that leads to the murder of her mother and brother.The final third of the film is the chase and rescue as the FBI closes in on DiMaggio, who has taken Hannah to an Idaho forest with hopes of starting a new life. Terrific performances by Scott Patterson (as DiMaggio) and Jessica Amlee (as Hannah) go a long way to bring an emotional core to what could have been a stock villain/victim dynamic. Brian McNamara does a great job as a dad dealing with both the end of his marriage and the death of his wife and son. There are a few solid thriller moments along the way (a sequence set in a Nevada truck stop is a stand out), but mostly this is the story about a girl trying to survive both the kidnapping and the turmoil that followed. Much has been made of Anderson's negative reaction to the film, but it is difficult to imagine a more sympathetic portrayal. Aside from DiMaggio, it is the media and the outspoken critics of Anderson (including DiMaggio's sister) that are the villains of the piece.It would have been nice to spend more time in the wilderness with DiMaggio and Anderson. These sequences are as frustratingly short on details in the film as they were in the initial media coverage... which doesn't help those who believe something more happened between the two. The film doesn't stray too far from Anderson's own accounts of the incidents, which feels like a missed opportunity to explore other dimensions of the case. It also holds back from some of the more brutal aspects of the case (all the murders take place off screen or out of focus). But then again... it is a Lifetime movie.Still, a few flaws aside, this is a very good movie that will likely hold the viewers attention... and just disturbing enough to linger in the mind for a few days after.
Mature-looking young teenager Jessica Amlee (as Hannah Anderson) is out on an Idaho camping trip with her significantly older "uncle" Scott Patterson (as James "Jim" DiMaggio). We know something is wrong because Ms. Amlee is skittish and Mr. Patterson seems to be interested in his niece as a sexual companion. Looking very creepy, he waves a gun around. As if that wasn't enough, they are surrounded by the FBI. After some shooting, Amlee is rescued and reunited with kind, soft-spoken father Brian McNamara (as Brett Anderson). We learn Amlee was abducted by Patterson. He also beat and burned to death her mother and brother. Amlee and her dad return to their Lakeside, California home. But things do not go well, there...Reporters swarm around Amlee and question her level of participation in her abduction. They suggest the "Lakeside Lolita" was a willing partner for Patterson and may have even participated in the murder of her mother and brother. To set the record straight, Amlee considers going on "The Today Show" to tell her story. Some fear this will only fan the tabloid flames, but Amlee is determined to tell her story...This "Lifetime" TV movie claims to have been, "based on a true story." This review is not meant to judge the young woman characterized...As a story, "Kidnapped" is not very intriguing. We know "media" stupidly follow these stories for their entertainment value, but they take the "side" of the abducted young woman; witness the lurid-tingled reporting of Natalee Holloway's disappearance by Greta Van Susteren and Nancy Grace. Here, we are led to believe "media" see Amlee as guilty of participation, but we are not shown why. The TV flashback "point of view" story goes into scenes without Amlee or her father. There is no suspense in scenes when Amlee tries to escape or kill her abductor, since know the ending at the beginning; consequently, director Peter Sullivan's best scenes fail. This shifts interest to the psychological, but the characters are simply not at all interesting.** Kidnapped: The Hannah Anderson Story (2015-05-23) Peter Sullivan ~ Jessica Amlee, Scott Patterson, Brian McNamara, Jay Pickett
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