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Movie
Poster for What Makes a Family

What Makes a Family

2001 · 120 min

A heartfelt, issue-driven drama that tugs at the heartstrings while navigating legal and emotional hurdles.

Directed by
Maggie Greenwald
Genres
Drama, Tv movie
Starring
Brooke Shields, Cherry Jones, Whoopi Goldberg
Tagline
Based on the controversial true story
Overview
Janine and Sandy are a lesbian couple who decide to have a baby, but after a few years Sandy dies. This tragedy is exploited by Sandy's parents to snatch the girl from Janine's care. But then, and despite having the laws against her, Janine decides to fight in order to regain custody of her daughter.

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In the UKNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.
Directed by
Maggie Greenwald
Genres
Drama, Tv movie
Starring
Brooke Shields, Cherry Jones, Whoopi Goldberg
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • earneststrength 2 of 3
  • tensestrength 1 of 3
  • warmstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • family
  • grief
  • justice
  • love
  • parenthood
Places
  • big city
  • home
Era
contemporary
Audience
adult
Form
  • true story
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language mild
  • Violence none
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action1
Horror0
Humour2
Realism8
Romance4
Tension5
Darkness5
Complexity4
Emotional weight8

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Where to watch in the UK

No UK streaming, rental or purchase options are known.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres
drama, tv movie
Directed by
Maggie Greenwald
Written by
Robert L. Freedman
Starring
Brooke Shields, Cherry Jones, Whoopi Goldberg, Anne Meara, Al Waxman, Jordy Benattar, Melanie Nicholls-King, Stewart Arnott
Cinematography
Rhett Morita
Runtime
120 min
Country
Canada, United States of America
Languages
English

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