1981 Directed by Joseph Sargent
Talented musician and free spirit Libby chafes under the rule of her divorced journalist mother, so she seeks emancipation from her parents and hits the road, soon joining the ranks of a traveling carnival. She gains the freedom she has longed for but learns some hard lessons along the way.
Mare Winningham Jennifer Warren Tony Bill Roy Thinnes Peter Horton Heather McAdam Eloy Casados J. Pat O'Malley Tara King Noelle North Taylor Negron Ray Girardin Buddy Douglas Steven Helm Jerold Pearson Ina Gould Carolyn Nelson Chris Alcaide Peter Brandon Randy Brooks Tommy Bull Ben Fuhrman Jerry Gatlin Kenny Griswold Kevyn Major Howard Derrick Lynn-Thomas Bill Morey Shelly O'Neill Lia Sargent Show All…
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a sort of spiritual successor to 1980’s Carny (which it’s only a year removed from) yet framed as more of a cautionary tale than a gritty look at carnival life - might be surprising to see Taking of Pelham One Two Three director Joseph Sargent’s name on this, considering its subject matter and desired audience, but this is more in line with his prolific work as a TV movie director than his genre leaning studio films and it is arguably one of his best, regardless; the very underrated Mare Winningham is so, so good in this
I’ve seen few made-for-TV movies that are so still and balanced and that make room for quiet. The scenes that set the story up are careful and feel lived in and raw where they need to be, with troubled teen Libby (Mare Winningham) resentful of her distant mother (Jennifer Warren, outstanding) and finding no room with her jetsetting father (Roy Thinnes). He helps her become an emancipated minor, with a plan to get a place of her own and to finish high school in Ojai, when she goes to a carnival one night, then after a run-in with a cop looking for a runaway she’s harboring, hits the road with them. Surprisingly, everyone in that nomadic world seems pretty normal…
Freedom is a pretty excellent TV movie written by Jennifer Jason Leigh’s mom, Barbara Turner. It was inspired by “an incident in the life of Chris Morrow,” another of Turner’s daughters.
Mare Winningham and Jennifer Warren play a mother and daughter who love each other but can’t live together. Winningham keeps running away from home, and eventually becomes an emancipated minor living in Ojai, CA. She then runs away from that situation and joins a traveling carnival. She’s also an aspiring singer-songwriter, and the movie is full of songs by Janis Ian.
Winningham and Warren are both great in this. The script is emotionally honest, and the performances, locations, and unpretentious direction all make it feel real.
My daughter just turned 15, so seeing this film start with a 14-year-old pushing for emancipation from her parents and getting it made me kinda lose it. But the two leads are spectacular here, and the story is simply told but in a beautiful, powerful way. I was surprised by how affecting I found this to be.
“She’s my daughter, you understand? She’s my fault.”
Recommended by Brian Sauer via Jonathan Hertzberg on Pure Cinema Podcast. A TV movie written by Barbara Turner (Jennifer Jason Leigh’s mother), starring Mare Winningham and Jennifer Warren, directed by Joseph Sargent (THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE), and with original songs by Janis Ian. It feels very much of a piece with one of my favorite films, 1995’s GEORGIA, also written by Turner and starring JJL (in my favorite performance of hers) and Winningham. Like GEORGIA, this focuses on a troubled singer in a fraught familial relationship, but it’s her mother here instead of her sister and it goes to some very different places as Winningham’s Libby hits the road with a traveling carnival. Based on Turner’s experiences with her other daughter, Carrie, a teen runaway. Such a great discovery.
I love the vibe of TV movies from this era so much. There's something so comforting about the 4:3 aspect ratio and the soft commercial break fade outs. This is the first one I watched in my newly purchased "Primetime Panic" set put out by Fun City Editions (who never miss).
Mare Winningham is so good in this part family drama/part cautionary tale about the dangers of running away from home and joining a traveling carnival. She also performs a lot of her own songs (her character is an aspiring country singer) and wears a lot of great oversized sweaters. Perfect lazy Sunday afternoon viewing from the director of Taking of Pelham 1,2,3.
Fun City Editions knocks it out of the park again, unearthing lost treasure with this wonderful made-for-television mother-daughter relationship drama. Mare Winningham gives a soulful performance as 16-year-old Libby, who is unable to get along with her uptight mother, so she becomes an emancipated minor and joins a traveling carnival. It's a true story, apparently, and it makes for an emotional and resonant film that, like many TV movies of the period, is on par with its contemporary theatrical films. Libby is also an aspiring singer-songwriter and Winningham shows off her considerable singing talent which left me wondering why she hasn't had more success as a recording artist or at least as a musical theatre performer. She actually is starring…
A well acted TV movie about an emancipated teen girl, her life with a carnival, and her complicated relationship with her mother. Mare Winningham impresses here in an early role
"She's my daughter, you understand, she's my fault."
An uncommonly thoughtful and lived-in portrait of a mother and daughter that simply has to be in the all-time upper echelon of made-for-TV movies. This would make an interesting companion piece with something like Dennis Hopper's Out of the Blue or the subsequent (Academy-Award-nominated) collaboration between Mare Winningham and screenwriter Barbara Turner, 1995's Georgia, and I'm honestly kind of stunned I've never heard of it before.
This really is quite the discovery, and if the other films in the "Primetime Panic" collection from Fun City Editions are anywhere close to as good as this, I'll honestly be kind of overwhelmed. Based on this alone, the collection is well worth a blind-buy.
A beautiful, honest story about a mother (Ray) and teenage daughter (Libby) whose relationship cannot be reconciled by the deep love they feel for one another. This opens with the damage already done between them; it is not a melodrama interested in that big moment but a film interested in the quiet (and let's face it, sometimes loud) moments of devastation when repair doesn't occur. Amazingly, almost every time the pair talk, or fight, they both say "I love you". The questions about why that isn't enough don't get answered; rather, this film tells a story of two people, apart. Neither is told they are wrong, or unreasonable, by the film. I guess it's no surprise that Joseph Sargent, who…
Plays like an after school special but it's hard to deny that Mare Winningham is one of the cutest people to ever walk the planet. Bonus points for having her sing at multiple points in the movie because she has a beautiful voice. As part of Fun City Editions' Primetime Panic boxset, this is outshone by Death Ride to Osaka but only slightly. It just needed more danger! Especially for a movie about carnies!
Prime time panic boxset movie 1: really loved this one. Really great performances throughout and music is so prevalent and important to the movie. This is basically the upper middle class version of Out of the Blue. Edit: Finishing up the special features so I’ve changed my rating from 4 and a half to 5.
