Woman with a Past (1992) starring Pamela Reed, Dwight Schultz, Richard Lineback, Carrie Snodgress, Adam Faraizl, Nick Stahl directed by Mimi Leder Movie Review

Woman with a Past (1992)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Pamela Reed in Woman with a Past (1992)

Lying to Live

Dee (Pamela Reed - Kindergarten Cop) and Mick (Dwight Schultz) had been together happily for 6 years with Mick being a good father to her two sons from her previous marriage. That is until Dee is arrested and the media swoop on their home for the story on her. As Mick takes the boys into prison to see Dee she tell them the whole story of how their father Wayne (Richard Lineback - Dangerous Evidence: The Lori Jackson Story) was not only violent but kidnapped them from her. How this lead to a downward spiral of drinking and hanging out with the wrong people which lead to her arrest when she tried to pull an armed robbery. But her story doesn't stop there as she also managed to escape and go in search of her boys.

Pamela Reed has an expressive face, one minute it can be cold and emotionless, next full of fear but then when the corners of her lips turn upwards it bursts into the most beautiful of smiles. It is because of Pamela Reed that "Woman with a Past" manages to keep you involved, it is her emoting which makes Dee an interesting character who you feel for because she is one of life's unfortunates who suffered bad things and made some stupid choices but tried to make good.

Adam Faraizl, Dwight Schultz and Nick Stahl in Woman with a Past (1992)

Beyond Pamela Reed's engaging performance there isn't a great deal else to way about "Woman with a Past" an interesting but less than spectacular story about a woman's previous life coming back to bite her in the butt after having created a new one for her self. What we see is that after a dramatic arrest her life story unfold as she tells Mick and her sons the truth whilst she is stuck in prison. We witness the abuse, the bad choices and of course how she met Mick when she went for a job at his realtors. That scene in particular where they first kiss is one of the movies highlights thanks to Reed's look of hope and excitement as they view a home together.

On the subject of Mick we do have Dwight Schultz who comes across as a real nice guy, charming and so on but not a character with much depth. We also have her sons which sees a young Nick Stahl alongside Adam Faraizl who brings a nice amount of anger to his role as the eldest son who feels betrayed by his mother's lies and fearful that they will be sent back to their violent father.

What this all boils down to is that "Woman with a Past" is to be honest nothing special; it has its moments with a good scene here or there. But it does have Pamela Reed and her performance more than the story is what keeps you involved in the drama.


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