Like Mother, Like Daughter (2007 TV Movie) User Reviews

Has Lifetime written all over it

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 31 March 2012]

I saw this on the Lifetime Movie Network, where else. "Like Mother, Like Daughter" stars Michelle Stafford and William R. Moses. Stafford plays a woman whose college-age daughter goes missing. She enlists the help of one of her professors (Moses).

These films are extremely derivative, rotating a few plots. They tend to be made in Canada (as this one was) and move slowly (as this one did). Usually there are one or two stars (as this one had) and the rest of the cast are subpar (as this one was).

However, and it's a strange thing, there's something kind of Sunday afternoon comfortable about seeing familiar actors in a familiar story that somehow manages to build in some suspense (as this one did).

The ending isn't entirely satisfying for a variety of reasons I won't go into in case you see it. Stafford and Moses are attractive, good actors. You'll find things like motives and evidence sadly lacking here, but enjoy.

Very average TV Movie

[MovieLoverToo · 4/10 · 15 June 2015]

This was a very average TV Movie I watched while working on my computer at the same time.

It is not a difficult movie to understand or follow. Its very simple and plods along simply and predictably.

The "Mother" and "Daughter" both play good roles for what the movie is but the rest of it is all very average. In fact it was only because I was captivated with the beauty of the daughter Dani Kind that I kept watching the rest of the movie.

However the rest of the movie barely makes the grade as being competent and the movie itself looks like it was written very quickly with the Actors not putting much thought in their performances.

Some of the dialogue is very shallow and unbelievable.

Anyway if you turned off half way through the movie you would not be missing anything. You know what the ending will be anyway

Great entertainment, but flawed ending

[jhpstrydom · 7/10 · 3 April 2009]

LIKE MOTHER LIKE DAUGHTER doesn't offer anything you haven't seen before, but it is great entertainment and builds a degree suspense, it tells the story of successful business woman Donna Wilkens (Michelle Stafford) who discovers that her daughter Emily (Dani Kind) has gone missing, and elicits the help of a college professor (William Moses) but the professor knows more about Emily's disappearance then his letting on.

This film offers nothing new like I said, but is very entertaining, and is very acted as well as directed, the ending is probably the films only major flaw, its tough to explain without spoiling it which is something I don't want to do, but you certainly won't waste your time watching it, I recommend it for its entertainment value.

7 out of 10

Anthropology 101

[lavatch · 8/10 · 7 April 2020]

A professor of anthropology, John Collins, insists on having order in his life. In his closet, his suits are meticulously arranged with the same spacing behind each item. He also cannot stand chaos, and he can turn on a dime and become unhinged with the slightest disruption from the normal.

John wastes no time in seducing Emily Wilkins, the daughter of the head of a local art foundation to which John has ties with Emily's mother Dawna. The mom had not used very good judgment when, as a teen, she married a lout and brought a child into the world. As a young woman about the same age, Emily now uses poor judgment in carrying on with an older man. She was looking for someone sophisticated and educated. She found that in John Collins, but much more than she bargained for.

When Emily spills wine on John's precious papers and his carpet, he has a meltdown that would rival any ancient Inca sacrificial rite. He "accidentally" murders Emily by suffocation, then buries the body. He is clever enough to also kill's Emily's ex-boyfriend, Keith, and leave incriminating evidence behind against the young man.

The focal point of the film shifts to the grief-stricken mother Dawna, who comes to realize that Keith was not the killer of her son. John slips up when he makes a passing mention of a bank loan for a condo of Emily. Dawna realizes that John could only known about the condo from Emily herself. She then moves into action to research the professor and learn that a young woman, Francesca Martinez, had mysteriously vanished on one of his trips to Peru.

It was most unfortunate that, due to circumstances beyond her control, Emily dropped out to the film so early. But, along with Francesca, Emily makes several cameo appearances as the ghost that haunts the sick mind of John Collins.

In "Like Mother, Like Daughter," the action moves at a brisk pace with actor WIlliam R. Moses good in the role of the dastardly anthropologist. Michelle Stafford and Dani Kind were both excellent as the mother and daughter. But the climactic scene in the kitchen where the professor makes his confession was too understated for a psycho wielding deadly kitchen utensils. Still, John would at least be pleased to learn that, after his pathological killing spree, order was finally restored.

Like Mother, Like Daughter- This Anthropologist Makes Some Dig ***1/2

[edwagreen · 9/10 · 23 April 2009]

Very much of a thrilling movie with William R. Moses once again proving that he has left the role of Ken Melansky completely from his Perry Mason days and has now become quite a killer in mid-age.

This time he portrays an anthropology professor who apparently with his good looks likes to pursue young female students. Trouble is that he is also off the wall and his dark side can lead to tragedy.

He does an excellent job in framing the dead student's ex-boyfriend, who by the way he kills as well. It's interesting how the dead girl's mother finds out through good detective work what is really going on.

A really good film with intensity and good acting all the way.

Pretty good mystery, somewhat creepy

[vchimpanzee · 21 December 2009]

At the start of the movie, anthropology professor John is burying something. Could it be a body?

Dawna is in charge of a museum in an unspecified city which I suppose is in the United States (Baltimore is mentioned as the home of one character, but we don't know how far away it is). The architecture is nothing short of fabulous, in a contemporary style; the credits suggest it is really The Canadian Museum of Civilization.

Dawna met John when she needed him to verify the authenticity of an exhibit, though she is an expert on South American cultures, and with those credentials, it's hard to imagine what she wouldn't have known. John has spent time looking for artifacts in South America himself, going there with students.

Dawna's daughter Emily is in college but kind of irresponsible. She needs one more class, but it's too late to register. Since Dawna is friendly with John, she pulls some strings and gets Emily into his class.

Emily is fascinated and visits John's office to tell him so. He lends her notes from the classes she missed by registering late. Actually, Emily says she's fascinated by the subject matter, and she does draw conclusions that show she is very intelligent and has potential, but what she's really fascinated with is John.

Emily has a boyfriend Keith, but he's a bartender with little potential and little to offer when John can discuss intellectual topics with her. Keith gets angry and grabs her when she leaves his bar. Later, he seems obsessed.

John knows what he's doing with Emily is inappropriate but doesn't care; he tells her not to tell anyone. An interesting editing technique: Emily leaves John's place and the video fades out as almost the same scene is shown again fading in, except Emily is wearing different clothes. And this is repeated until four different outfits are shown.

John is very compulsive about his desk and his clothes. He seems nice, but he arranges his shirts in his closet just so. If anyone touches them or anything else, you get the impression he'll get mad. Also, he keeps imagining he sees his former girlfriends. They look like something out of a horror movie.

Emily doesn't show up for class. She was also supposed to meet her mother. The police give the usual response: she's an adult and has to be missing for 24 hours.

Can John help? Maybe. The crisis does seem to bring them closer together.

But Dawna is quite a good investigator. In fact, it's pretty amazing what she can accomplish.

Michelle Stafford and William Moses are quite good. And the writers really sound like they know ancient South American cultures. The classes and the discussions outside of class sound real, but then I don't know much about these cultures.

One giveaway this movie was filmed in Canada: a newspaper headline with the word "cheque". I still think this was supposed to be in the United States but don't recall any clues about where.

This is a pretty good mystery.

The Dirty Dozen !

[elshikh4 · 27 March 2010]

I know. When I watch usual TV movie, I don't wait for much. This time, it was kind of fair, however with some bothering points. Let's count them together:

1_The black circles around the eyes of the previous boyfriend?? That was too much for even the drug addict that he was! It's maybe the first mission for a make-up artist who wanted to assure how he can color BADLY!

2_..And of course, the black circles around the eyes of the first victim's ghost; that wasn't freaky, it was simply horrible!

3_The way the continuation of the affair between the professor and the girl was portrayed by showing her, going out of his flat many times, while being shot from the same angle, by the same cadre, always in the daylight, with only different outfits; this is the perfect definition of "artless" ladies and gentlemen!

4_The performance of (William R. Moses) while killing the girl. He seemed like someone has a terrible constipation! But I can't blame the man alone. This script didn't give him convincing reason, or enough analysis.

5_When that killer knew about how the police can locate where the missing girl is, by her cell phone, he was going to do what exactly??!! Cheap thrill for me.

6_The dialogue of "she dumped me" between the previous boyfriend and the mother dragged out a bit. The boy nearly repeated himself like a parrot!

7_The Columbo thing when the professor kills the previous boyfriend! If you love Columbo's movies, such as me, you'll notice easily the forever move in which the killer, who hasn't been discovered yet, goes to kill another one after feeling a little suspicion around him right in the middle of the TV movie! On one hand, it's so formulaic and predictable, and on the other hand, it's unnecessary and weak in here!

8_Not shooting the ghosts in the dark parts of the places, or the irony between the good lighting around them and the too much black circles--made these shots look naive.

9_I can't wholly believe that someone has an obsessive compulsive disorder, such as that cool professor, who could kill because of it, and more than once too---never showed any irrational behavior ever before, even in front of his closest friends or dearest colleagues!

10_The scene of the confession gave us no reasonable motives. It's obvious how this script didn't find the appropriate psychological or mental illness for its lead. With complex concerning loving only adolescent girls, then being paranoid about their loyalty, or some megalomania where he thinks that nobody can know better than him (suits many professors I met myself!), or with anything out of 1000 illness there; the matters could have been more logical and less flat than "she spilled the wine on my carpet"! Otherwise, I'm pretty sure that that man must have killed many workingmen, restaurants' waiters, with uncountable friends along the way too!

11_At last, how oh how the mother assured that the professor did it? She had so brittle evidences, plus he confessed only for her, let alone that she already must have been accused of killing him?!!

12_What's the meaning of the title?!

Despite that dozen, it's watchable. And away from them, it's coherent. Though nothing was great, except for the line of the ghost "Forever begins now". It's the average made-for-TV 90 minutes drama. I just think that being with more qualities, or more bad points, both ways, it could've been more attractive!