My Baby Is Missing (2007) (aka: Stolen Innocence) Gina Philips, Warren Christie, Ellie Harvie, Jay Brazeau Movie Review

My Baby Is Missing (2007)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Gina Philips in My Baby Is Missing (2007) (aka: Stolen Innocence)

Giving the Baby Blues

37 weeks pregnant and having just won a promotion, life is non stop for Jenna Davis (Gina Philips) and her Doctor suggests that she takes advantage of a pre-natal nurse checking up on her as she has high blood pressure. So nurse Lynne Mallory (Ellie Harvie) shows up at Jenna's home and gives her the once over and some vitamin pills. But later that night whilst having become dazed and confused Jenna is rushed to the hospital where after coming round she is told her baby was still born. Confused, with the help of the baby's father Tom (Warren Christie) they try and work out what happened leading Jenna to suspect that maybe her baby was kidnapped in a big cover up whilst Det. Hoch (Anna Galvin) who is investigating the case suspects Jenna may have killed her baby in order to hold on to her job.

"My Baby Is Missing", or "Stolen Innocence" as it is also known, is a made for TV movie and anyone who has watched a few TV movies, especially those which are thrillers, know that they often fail because of storyline problems. A Storyline problem is exactly the major issue with "My Baby Is Missing" because a reasonable idea is undone by a storyline which trades cleverness for contrived scenes and doesn't have the substance to make it flow in a believable way. To be more precise in "My Baby Is Missing" we have a woman who has mysteriously lost her baby during child birth and been in hospital under sedation yet within 24 hours she goes charging into work looking far too good for someone who not only has just had 9 months of pregnancy but supposedly dealing with the loss of there baby. So basically that means "My Baby Is Missing" is another TV movie which works but demands you accept a lot and not to care about believability.

Warren Christie in My Baby Is Missing (2007) (aka: Stolen Innocence)

Now I like the storyline to "My Baby Is Missing" because it has potential, to be honest any movie which sees a baby kidnapped has potential for something truly emotional and dramatic. Unfortunately emotional and dramatic is not the order of the day here because after a set up which culminates in Jenna meeting the obviously nefarious nurse Lynne and then waking up in hospital to learn that her baby was still born things quickly go down hill. Not only do we get the scene where Jenna heads to work looking far too good but we get the unexplained baby mobile in her home suddenly playing a tune.

And then from then on in "My Baby Is Missing" becomes obvious and contrived because Jenna believing something is fishy starts investigating with the help of her ex and the baby's daddy Tom, despite Jenna having never told him she was pregnant, yes you have to go with his unbelievable niceness. There is also Detective Hoch who suspects that Jenna may have killed her own baby in order to hold on to her recent promotion, a suspicion which in itself is suspect as it seems based on what a hospital pen pusher suggests rather than any investigation. And there is more because you can guess how things will end up, not just when it comes to Jenna discovering the truth but also her relationship with Tom, yet the twisted web of deceit she uncovers becomes so contrived that you could end up laughing when you really shouldn't. It is a shame as the fundamentals are there for a decent thriller but the limitations of a TV movie cause "My Baby Is Missing" to fail.

Fail isn't a nice word but unfortunately it extends to the acting in "My Baby Is Missing" as well, although many of the issues come from the actual character writing. Gina Philips starts well as Jenna, the workaholic mother to be but following the loss of her baby the character becomes all wrong, no believable grieving, no real emotion and it feels like Jenna has suddenly become some sort of cop rather than a mother missing her baby. And then there is Warren Christie as Tom the unbelievably nice boyfriend, the boyfriend who suddenly discovers not only was Jenna expecting her baby but that the baby is gone. Unbelievable is the only way you can describe the character and because Christie over emphasizes how nice Tom is it becomes even more unbelievable. I could go on because those playing detectives are stereotypes whilst Ellie Harvie who plays the nefarious nurse at times looks like she has gone to the pantomime school of villainy.

What this all boils down to is that "My Baby Is Missing" is like so many TV movies, a good idea which doesn't get the treatment it deserves due to the limitations of being made for TV. And as such whilst the whole new born baby kidnap storyline is good the way it comes across is weak with far too many contrivances to accept.


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