THE TIE THAT BINDS

Details

• Release Year: 1995
• Genre: Suspense/Thriller
• Plot: The Netherwoods (Keith Carradine and Daryl Hannah) are bad parents. They break into people's homes and steal food, leaving their daughter Janie (Julia Devin) in the car to occupy herself. So the state takes Janie away from them and puts her up for adoption. Unfortunately for Janie's new parents, the Cliftons (Moira Kelly and Vincent Spano), the state didn't catch the Netherwoods, and the bad parents want their daughter back. This summary, though accurate, isn't fair to The Tie That Binds; despite the broad strokes of the plot, the movie is surprisingly successful at creating suspense. The violent scenes are both effectively brutal and effectively restrained--what we see looks like it hurts, but the most gruesome violence happens offscreen. The performances aren't subtle, but like the movie itself, they're grounded enough in reality to sustain the suspense. The gorgeous cinematography lends itself to some beautiful images (a sheet blown away by the wind, fireflies flickering in front of an unfinished house) that create a unusually graceful sense of impending danger. This may not have played as well on the big screen, but in the intimacy of your own home The Tie That Binds has an accumulating creepiness that will last longer than the jagged shocks and jolts of most recent thrillers. --Bret Fetzer
• Cast: Daryl Hannah; Keith Carradine; Moira Kelly; Vincent Spano; Julia Devin; Ray Reinhardt; Barbara Tarbuck; Ned Vaughn; Kerrie Cullen; Bob Minor; George Marshall Ruge; Thomas Rosales Jr.; Laura Lee; Marquis Nunley; Jenny Gago; Carmen Argenziano; Cynda Williams; Bruce A. Young; Jack Johnson; Melanie MacQueen; Laurie Latham; Willie Garson; Greg Collins; Dana Gladstone; Jesse Hays; Andrea Sandahi; Chris Ellis; Coleen Maloney; Shawn Rowe; Melissa Hays; Steve Rosenbaum; Suzanne Krull; Kevin Bourland; Taylor Allbright; Gene Lythgow; Lynn Wanlass; Kenny Alexander; Elke Larson; Kylie Larson; Benjamin Mouton; Petunia Phillips; Wesley Strick; Michael Auerbach
• Director: Wesley Strick
• Runtime: 1:39
• Company: Hollywood Pictures, Interscope Communications, Polygram Filmed Entertainment
• Media Format: Movie