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| View Larger Image | A Cry in the Dark | DVDStarring: Meryl Streep, Sam Neill, Dale Reeves, David Hoflin, Jason Reason
Directed By: Fred Schepisi
Also With: Fred Schepisi (Writer), Menahem Golan (Producer), Roy Stevens (Producer), Verity Lambert (Producer), Yoram Globus (Producer), John Bryson (Writer), Robert Caswell (Writer)
| List Price: | $9.98 | | Price: | $5.79 | | You Save: | $4.19 (42%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | DVD | | Rating: |  | | Run Time: | 120 minutes | | Format: | Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC | | Studio: | Warner Home Video | | Number of Discs: | 1 | | Aspect Ratio: | 2.35:1 | | Release Date: | December 21, 1999 | | Sales Rank: | 7,719th |
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FEATURES | - Meryl Streep won the New York Film Critics and Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards as Australia's Lindy Chamberlain, accused of killing her infant daughter. "Hair-raising" (Newsweek) Year: 1988 Director: Fred Schepisi Starring: Meryl Streep, Sam Neill, Bruce MylesRunning Time: 122 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG-13 Age: 085391186823 UPC: 085391186
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
Meryl Streep won the New York Film Critics and Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards as Australia's Lindy Chamberlain accused of killing her infant daughter. "Hair-raising" (Newsweek) Year: 1988 Director: Fred Schepisi Starring: Meryl Streep Sam Neill Bruce MylesRunning Time: 122 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG-13 UPC: 085391186823 |
Amazon.com essential video
Julia Louis-Dreyfus's Elaine on Seinfeld once offered a non sequitur at a party just to relieve her own boredom: "The dingo ate your baby," she blurted in a bad Australian accent. It was a reference to this harrowing film by director Fred Schepisi, based on a true story. Meryl Streep and Sam Neill play a married couple on a camping trip whose baby disappears. Streep maintains that the baby was carried off by a dingo--a wild dog--but she winds up as the victim of a hard-hearted prosecutor and the target of a nationwide hate campaign, in part because she was a religious fundamentalist who seemed unsympathetic and, thus, became an easy target for the tabloid press. Streep and Neill are both outstanding in this fierce, realistic drama about the ways faith can bolster even in the face of outrageous persecution. --Marshall Fine |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 27 reviews)
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3 stars out of 4 by One-Line Film Reviews (Easton, MD)  4 Stars
February 23, 2009
The Bottom Line:
A Cry in the Dark is a capable docudrama that does a fine job retelling the story that shocked Australia; while it should be condemned for making people say "The dingo ate my baby!" in awful Australian accents, it's a worthy film with good acting by Streep and Neil.
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Media frenzy, Aussie-style by Bradley F. Smith (Miami Beach, FL) 4 Stars
September 20, 2008
I missed this true news story, but the movie recreates the group witch hunt that chased this Aussie couple to the penitentiary for a crime they never committed. Rumors, innuendo, boredom and group think were some of the factors involved. The film does a good job with it all, and the Aussie mood and landscapes are captured well. Streep is great, and Sam Neill is ok as the religious father caught up in the '80s craziness.
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Sadly, this is a true story... by Andrew Ellington (Mulholland Drive)  5 Stars
August 05, 2008
I state the obvious in my title for a reason; for it is films like this that open your eyes to a very ugly side of life and humanity and kind of make you cringe inside at the very thought of belonging to the same species as some of these people. I know that that may sound harsh, but I dare you to watch this harrowing film and not find yourself thinking the same way. I couldn't help but close my eyes in agony during sections of this film, my wife gasping as we took in everything that this poor family had to suffer and endure; to no fault of their own besides maybe a poor decision that should have never been held over their heads.
`Evil Angels' (or `A Cry in the Dark' here in the states) tells the heartbreaking true story of the Chamberlain family who lost their young daughter while camping in the Australian outback. In the middle of the night a dingo snuck into the tent in which their 10-week old daughter Azaria was sleeping and ran off with her. A search was started yet her body was never found, and when the search was ended the witch-hunt began as the community and the media launched an all out attack on the family, especially the mother Lindy, trying to pin her down for the murder of her child.
You think that the worst thing that can happen to a parent is to lose a child; but that pain seems minimal when you find yourself accused of taking their life.
`Evil Angels' recounts the court proceedings that followed the disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain as her family is tormented and persecuted and mercilessly attacked by everyone around them. It is true that we live in a world where young children are killed and or abused daily, and many times by a parent, but we also live in a world where you are supposed to remain innocent until proven guilty, and no guilt was every proven against Lindy or Michael Chamberlain, which makes their treatment all the more devastating.
Sam Neill and Meryl Streep are superb as the crushed souls known as Michael and Lindy Chamberlain. They each dominate their characters, truly sinking into the thoughts and actions and wreckage that comes from this unforeseen situation. Neill embodies Michael with such sympathy and pain; his eyes bleeding with this uncomfortable sadness that scratches at his heart. As the court proceedings carry on and his relationship with Lindy becomes strained you can really see that he is trying to understand what is happening to him, but his mind can't grasp it; or maybe it doesn't want to. Meryl Streep is a revelation as Lindy. Lindy deals with her situation in stark contrast to her husband, forcing herself to find humor in her treatment to deaden the pain; but when she takes the stand and her countenance falls and she starts to crumble you begin to understand that she is not as cold as she appears.
You realize just how badly she has been damaged by the actions of everyone around her.
`Evil Angels' is a very hard film to stomach. It reminds me much of `The Crucible' in that both films (true life accounts mind you) expose the cruelty and inhumane ways of humans in desperate situations. Through both films I felt this heat within my veins that boiled into full-fledged anger and frustration in people. Maybe it's because I am a parent, but even if I were not I still feel as if this film would have wounded me so-to-speak. The script, actors, direction and mere tone of the film only help to elevate the inevitable devastation, to such a degree that the ending solace seems more token and less gratifying.
This film is superb.
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A Cry in the Dark or Evil Angels by C Wahlman (Merrillville, IN) 4 Stars
June 04, 2008
This has to be one of the most heart wrenching films I have ever seen.
This is the opposite of those movies that make you feel good about humanity and the world we live in ... This incredible true story makes you wonder how we call this civilization or justice.
Meryl Streep is tremendous as Mrs. Chamberlain, wife to a pastor husband, who experiences tragedy early on in the film. But the film focuses more on the tragedy that later befalls their lives as compassion and humanity are trampled by ignorance, rumor, hatred, and stubbornness.
Their story is amazing. It is sad and it makes you cry. And it will haunt you for some time. I believe there are few things scarier than being innocent and yet being unable to prove it because others believe in your guilt so diligently and blindly. Like Hitchcock's The Wrong Man, Cry in the Dark will leave its stain upon you, but will also give you hope in the end.
Highly recommend it is seen, but buy it with caution (some moments are so terribly painful you may not ever want to see them again).
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A Cry in the Dark by kittycatlady (Everett, WA) 5 Stars
January 07, 2008
A very fine acting performance by the main characters -- hard to watch knowing how injustice and prejudice colored the "investigation" -- but well worth the time. Will watch this one more than once.
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SIMILAR PRODUCTS |
| Before and After
Starring: Meryl Streep, Liam Neeson, Edward Furlong, Julia Weldon, Alfred Molina
Directed By: Barbet Schroeder
Two of Hollywood's brightest stars, Meryl Streep (THE HOURS, ADAPTATION), and Liam Neeson (GANGS OF NEW YORK, SCHINDLER'S LIST) deliver spellbinding performances in this riveting, suspense-filled thriller! A small, close-knit community is rocked by a shocking murder -- and the only suspect is the teenage son of a respected local family. Suddenly, Dr. Carolyn Ryan (Streep) and her husband, Ben (Neeson) are faced with a gut-wrenching dilemma: Whether to risk everything on their son's innocence...
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| "...First Do No Harm"
Starring: Meryl Streep, Fred Ward, Seth Adkins, Allison Janney, Margo Martindale
Directed By: Jim Abrahams
Award-winning actress Meryl Streep (Best Actress, SOPHIE'S CHOICE, KRAMER VS. KRAMER, THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY) delivers a powerful and uplifting performance in this story of one family's strength and courage in a time of extreme crisis. Plunged into emotional and financial hardship, a devoted mother (Streep), a hardworking father (Fred Ward -- CHAIN REACTION, CORKY ROMANO) and the rest of this close-knit family face a decision that will change their lives forever. As time and options...
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| Plenty
Starring: Meryl Streep, Charles Dance, Tracey Ullman, John Gielgud, Sting
Directed By: Fred Schepisi
A British woman returns home from her work as a resistance fighter in France during the War. Her unconventional and strong-willed behavior soon begins to disrupt the lives of those around her.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 16-APR-2002
Media Type: DVD
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| Postcards from the Edge
Starring: Meryl Streep, Shirley MacLaine, Dennis Quaid, Gene Hackman, Richard Dreyfuss
Directed By: Mike Nichols
Also With: Michael Ballhaus (Cinematographer), Mike Nichols (Producer), John Calley (Producer), Neil A. Machlis (Producer), Robert Greenhut (Producer), Susan MacNair (Producer), Carrie Fisher (Writer)
SUBSTANCE-ADDICTED HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS SUZANNE VALE IS ON THE SKIDS. AFTER A SPELL AT A DETOX CENTRE HER FILM COMPANY INSISTS AS A CONDITION OF CONTINUING TO EMPLOY HER THAT SHE LIVE WITH HER MOTHER DORIS MANN, HERSELF ONCE A STAR AND NOW A CHAMPION DRINKER.
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| Ironweed
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, Jake Dengel, Paul A. DiCocco Jr., William Duell
Also With: Lauro Escorel (Cinematographer), John Morris (Composer)
Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 02/24/2009 Rating: R
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