TV Reviews : ‘Mother’--Rape as a Crime of Violence

In “Sins of the Mother,” TV once again turns lurid headlines into product. The CBS Tuesday Movie, tonight at 9 on Channels 2 and 8, about a domineering mother and her warped son, is based on fact, played against a police hunt for a violent serial rapist.

As the last scene plays out, a solemn update scrolls up the screen telling what happened to whom.

Elizabeth Montgomery plays the disturbed mother who erratically veers between treating her adult son with flirtatious approval and support, and scorning him as an object of disgust.

Not surprisingly, this has given son Kevin (Dale Midkiff) an insecure grip on reality too, but his well-groomed, attractive public persona and social status make others doubt their own perceptions of his lies and self-delusions.

Is it just a coincidence that Kevin fits the FBI profile of a power rapist who takes out his fury at his own domination by violently dominating others?

Montgomery, who erased her “Bewitched” sitcom image long ago when she played Lizzie Borden, is a proper monster, but the uncompelling teleplay, directed by John Patterson, doesn’t reveal much about her.

The main strength of the film is in its depiction of rape, not as a sexual issue, but as a crime of violence. The victims are not stereotypically beautiful or provocative.

There is also a police force slow to move, with a captain who jokes that the victims should “lay back and enjoy it.” Results, and the unsavory ending, come when a concerned detective (Talia Balsam) gets a special rape squad to handle the crisis.