Solid Cast, Script Boost ‘Familiar Stranger’

In this era of staged, unscripted shows, it’s good to remember that truth is always stranger than fiction.

That adage came to mind while watching “The Familiar Stranger,” an engrossing drama based on a true story about deceit, betrayal and cowardice.

Tonight’s Lifetime movie focuses on a paroled Ohio man who abandoned a wife and two children, leaving a suicide letter at home, before surreptitiously starting a new life in Maine.

Margaret Colin turns in a subdued yet strong performance as Elizabeth, the warm, sympathetic wife obligated to raise two boys after her husband Pat (Jay O. Sanders) supposedly takes his life after a conviction for embezzlement of university funds.

Debt-ridden and unprepared at first, Elizabeth loses the house and grapples with her older son’s anger before finally achieving security. Ten years later, a notice from the Social Security Administration leads her to discover Pat is living under another name as an upstanding citizen in Kennebunkport, and she tracks him down with help from the Internet.

At this juncture, the film could have descended into over-the-top hokum, but that happily is not the case in the solid script by Alan Hines, who effectively fashions a series of small but believable scenes that dissect the family’s domestic travails. Yes, Elizabeth single-handedly does the sleuthing, but it’s handled in a credible manner. When her older son reluctantly tells Elizabeth to “nail him,” you’re likely to share his sentiment.

Colin, who co-starred in the short-lived CBS series “Now and Again,” is one of television’s most reliable actresses, and here she delivers another understated portrayal. The production also benefits from good work by four actors playing her sons as youngsters (Michael Cera, Erik Knudsen) and teens (Will Estes, Aaron Ashmore). Meanwhile, Sanders earns our wrath by persuasively playing the man who turns his back on a family that loved him.

Director Alan Metzger also deserves a pat on the back for sustaining the film’s restrained tone.

* “The Familiar Stranger” can be seen tonight at 9 on Lifetime. The network has rated it TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children).