TV REVIEWS : Abused Son Murders Parents in NBC’s ‘Family Torn Apart’

Tired of waiting for the inevitable TV movie(s) about the Menendez murder case? NBC plugs the gap Sunday with a similarly themed, fact-based drama involving parents who are murdered by one of their two adopted teen-age sons.

“A Family Torn Apart” (9 p.m., Channels 4, 36 and 39) does not, however, possess the type of lurid suggestions of child sexual abuse and unbridled greed that surround the current Menendez trial. The story of the Hannigan family is less sensationalistic and therefore, perhaps, more identifiably real.

The fiercely conservative parents (John M. Jackson and Linda Kelsey) in this moderately engaging work are basically well intentioned people. But their unrealistic expectations of their two older sons and their excessively harsh ways of dealing with their failings, push the boys into an undeniable state of misery.

As a psychological probe, the film is both penetrating and elusive. Director Craig R. Baxley and writer Matthew Bombeck rightfully--and sometimes eloquently--take the side of the abused boys. Yet they also never adequately explore the troubled psyche of Daniel (Johnny Galecki), the combative son who is constantly getting into trouble at home and in school. As a result, the movie’s underlying claim that Daniel would have been a more productive citizen had he been blessed with understanding parents is never convincingly made.

Daniel’s sibling Brian (Neil Patrick Harris) is a more fully realized character. Less intelligent than his street-wise brother, Brian is the timid son who wants to please his increasingly demanding and negative parents. Harris proves adept at bringing to the fore his character’s sense of isolation and unhappiness.

Despite its flaws, “A Family Torn Apart” does provoke some scary thoughts about how many other children might be living under the oppressive thumb of similarly dictatorial parents.