This is a pointless presentation of a horribly sad story that deserved better. The casting was poor, acting laughable (especially Blythe as 14-yr-old Meg-- she looked every bit her 20 years and was amateur at best), dialog stupid and the David character a frustrating farce. Nobody decent (as David's character was supposed to be) would stand around for as long as he did and not tell his parents or somebody! And the neighbors were so clueless in this small town (where scandal and gossip is usually welcome amid the boredom) that they were unaware that the drunkard single mom on the block (divorced moms were suspect back then, too) was feeding alcohol to their own kids and raising a brood of bully, violent brats? Completely NON believable.<br /><br />And I doubt a little guy like David would be able to off a maniacal, adult woman w/ two swings of a crutch!<br /><br />It's a shame that the opportunity to bring this excruciatingly sad, yet important story about child abuse to the world via film was squandered so miserably.