Ok, I don't want to sound like I am insensitive toward spousal abuse, just because I am a man, but this movie was the most unrealistic portrayal of a battered woman I have ever seen. This movie did in fact start the Lifetime Victim-of-the-week movie series, and I would not have been surprised to see Meredith Baxter-Birney in this movie. Just because this was one of the first movies about spousal abuse doesn't make it good. I was often left puzzled during the movie when Fawcett could not get the police to have her husband removed from her home, even though they were divorced and he did not live there. HELLO?! It's called trespassing! Paul Le Mat was also on probation when he hit a police officer. They said he would be going to jail for parole violation, but apparently they had to edit that part out for times sake. Also, she didn't even lock her door, so the Bastion of Hell, who just happens to live next door, can just walk right in and beat the crap out of her. Even more amazing is the fact that Fawcett's mother in the movie seems to excuse her son-in-law's beatings. Why? I can see his own mother defending him, but I would just love to see an abuse case where the victim's mother takes the side of the guy who is beating the holy hell out of her daughter. Also, the acting was not good at all. Paul Le Mat reached the apex of horrible acting in the scene where he burns Fawcett's school books. "Schoolin'! When you gonna stop this schoolin'?" WASN'T THE MOVIE SET IN MICHIGAN?!? Why are they talking like the are from Mississippi? But, I can't complain too much, because it just follows the same standard that most movies that are based on real life events do. Just do yourself a favor and don't watch this movie.
Review of The Burning Bed
