A Promise to Carolyn (1996 TV Movie) User Reviews

Rutinary Telefilm

[khatcher-2 · 5/10 · 11 April 2001]

Whereas separately Delta Burke and Swoosie Kurtz play their parts reasonably well, they are as unlikely a pair of `sisters' you could imagine. Put together and considered as a whole directed by an imaginitive but lacklustre Jerry London, the sum of the parts would seem to exaggerate the worth of the whole. Certainly we must contend with a number of overacted scenes by both `sisters' as well as the step-mother of today and of forty years ago in flashbacks. Curiously it is precisely in the flashbacks to 1955 that provide the film with its best moments: the three little sisters were delightful, except obviously in the scenes of the step-mother thrashing out violence………. Scenes which were not too successfully handled. The story adheres too strongly to pre-established formulas such that the outcome is never in doubt, offers no surprise, simply another traditional rutinary telefilm trying too hard to evoke sympathies. I can only give this film 5 out of 10, I'll make it 5½ if you push me.

Disturbing content, but well done

[alliesmom97 · 8 July 2004]

This movie tells the story of two adult sisters who seek justice for the murder of their baby sister by their truly wicked stepmother over 30 years earlier.

I found this to be very well acted. While Swoosie Kurtz and Delta Burke are totally different, they both did a great job of being what their characters had become as a result of the trauma of their early lives...Swoozie's character was hard, just a little trashy and a bit off the wall, Delta's was quiet, meek, eager to please--both perfectly plausible ways for children of abuse to end up. The guy playing the prosecutor was fantastic. But one of the best performances was that of the "young" stepmother. Watching the scenes where she brutalized the little girls, and the one where Carolyn was killed, was heart-stopping.

You have to wonder how many "Carolyns" there were so many years ago when abuse was something "nice" people didn't talk about and medical and law enforcement professionals tried to cover up.

A contrived, over-acted mess.

[=G= · 4/10 · 17 June 2001]

"A Promise to Carolyn" tells of the investigation of two middle aged women into the death of their little sister 30+ years earlier. A contrived mess fraught with herky-jerky flashbacking, over-acting, and poor technical consulting in hypnosis, law, forensics, etc., this flick is an obvious fabrication with one purpose; to jerk the audience around emotionally. Should be most appreciated by soaps junkies.

At this writing the IMDB user rating of 7.8 computed from 37 votes is grossly distorted by 16 votes, almost half, giving this mediocre film a maximum score of 10 with no semblance of a Gaussian distribution.

Great Movie!!

[princessmld · 10/10 · 29 July 2005]

'A promise to Carolyn' was about 2 sisters that are trying to convict their stepmother of their baby sister's murder 37 years ago. All the memory's start again when one of the sisters gets a angel from the other sister on Chirstmas, which was the death of their sister Carolyn. As they show flashbacks and other memories of their childhood you could see it was troubled, through this movie they are trying to put their step-mother in jail on a count of murder.Its a very suspenseful movie and I think that audiences of all ages would like it for there is mystery,drama and more in this movie. I recommend this movie to anyone who likes mystery and drama. The casting was great as well as the plot.

Well acted, based on a true story

[dbo7640886 · 10/10 · 16 January 2010]

This is an incredibly well done film based on the story of a man already in prison who finally found the courage, with no promise for any favors, to tell the story of the death of his little sister. The beautiful little girl was murdered by her stepmother just as depicted in the movie, but the evil woman was never tried for the crime. The man in jail told the police every detail he could remember as a small child himself of the death of his baby sister. Such unspeakable horrors as this little girl eating her own vomited blood clots. The child died and years later the inmate thanked the people of his little hometown with tears in his eyes for the bought tombstone his little sister had never before had. And for the late and unsatisfying delayed justice in the conviction of the monster who killed her. The woman, just as seen in the film, received probation based on 1950's "justice". Carolyn is not forgotten and let us hope that no other little child will die unnoticed and unmarked. God bless the makers of this film and the brother that never forgot.

This movie grabs hold and won't let go

[mkr-1 · 10/10 · 12 July 2003]

I Loved this movie! I was so saddened at what happened to that darling little girl by her step mother, but I think this movie is rated a 10 because it grips you so much that it stays with you long after the movie is over. I watch this movie everytime it comes on TV. I especially like true to life movies and the fact that the real people involved in this case were involved in making sure that the information is all correct and true made it even better.

Favorable approximately 100 word review that tries not to give too much away.

[princess-12 · 8/10 · 19 November 1998]

This is the story of two sisters in their mid-forties (played by Delta Burke and Swoozie Kurtz) one of whom is convinced that the death of their baby sister 40 years earlier was not an accident. She convinces her younger sister, who is still on friendly terms with their father and step-mother, to help her look into the death which neither of them remembers clearly. The film is surprisingly no tearjerker, but rather well thought out, well written and well acted, particularly the scene in which Delta Burke is hypnotized and regressed to the day of Carolyn's death.

Poignant

[twisted_sista · 6 May 2003]

This movie really gripped me from beginning to end. Its about two sisters who want to bring their baby sisters killer(their stepmother) to justice. The flashback scenes i found to be quite disturbing, the stepmother is a really wicked person and it saddens me to know this thing happens every day all over the world.

Good movie

[gray-45771 · 10/10 · 24 April 2022]

Tjis movie is about the true life and death of carolyn mcmorris from lubbock texas. In the past, child abuse was treated as a family problem. Her stepmom was convicted of her murder in 1991, but because of the laws in 1955 only got a 5 year suspended sentence.

There is a fine line between discipline and abuse

[lindseycioffi · 17 March 2004]

There is a fine line between discipline and abuse. What Jolene did to those little girls was abuse. She beat that baby to death for crying because the shoes were too tight and she wouldn't stop squirming while she was trying to get them on... It isn't the baby's fault that the shoes were too tight. The difference between abuse and discipline is discipline is a quick slap on the behind for doing something wrong. Abuse is slapping the child for doing nothing at all. The other kids should have done whatever they could have done to try to stop their step-mom from killing their baby sister. The flashbacks were so sick... they made me cry. I would have taken them kids away from her whether someone told me about it or not.