Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

VividSimon Simply Perfect

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

evening1 I caught this LMN movie after seeing its sequel, released earlier this year. This one holds up just as well.Again, Tracy Pollan is a surprise as the mother whom Joran van der Sloot never dreamed would haunt his every move. She is superb as a woman so focused on finding justice for her daughter that she alienates most of the people who support her, including her second husband.The "prequel" to this notorious case is presented intriguingly. Natalee comes across as a young woman in a bubble -- pretty and talented and somewhat indulged by her proud mother. Having seemingly been sheltered all her life, she was even less prepared for a long weekend in a foreign country than her similarly blonde girlfriends. Her fatal naiveté is depicted heartbreakingly here.I found it interesting that the Pollan character, Beth Twitty, seemed to find some peace in an explanation of the crime that an ambushed Joran gave to a person whom he thought was a drug dealer offering him work. (She seemed far less sure of this story in the sequel to this film, which mainly depicts Beth pursuing Joran to get an explanation straight from him.) Another intriguing angle was this movie's effort to show the corruption of law enforcement in Aruba, a little island whose reputation will forever be tainted by the lax and unhelpful attitude Twitty encountered.In all, a compelling depiction of what can be the extreme unfairness of life. My only quibble is that the movie probably should have been titled "Beth Twitty."

phd_travel This is engrossing. So many twists and turns happened in the Natalee case with arrests and releases etc that it's hard to remember what happened. But this TV movie does a good job in showing what happened in fact and then a few alternate scenarios for her disappearance.Of course now that Joran has been arrested for another murder we may finally know what happened but for the story till then - this is a good introduction.Tracy is good as Beth. She could be annoyingly over dramatic but she isn't. The guy who plays Joran is good too.It's a good warning for teens venturing abroad - Europe / Mexico etc just to make sure they don't trust strangers and have a plan to go home. Get your teen to watch this. Even the most sensible girl can make a mistake.

Michael_Elliott Natalee Holloway (2009)** (out of 4) Lifetime Movie Network produced TV movie tells the story of Beth Twitty (Tracy Pollan) who headed to Aruba after her 18-year-old daughter Natalee went there for a trip and turned up missing. The prime suspect was a local named Joran Van Der Sloot but his changing stories and possible cover ups by the police leaves this case unsolved. I admit to being one of those who heard about this case early on and followed most of it so I really didn't learn anything new by this movie. If you're familiar with the case then this movie isn't going to teach you anything and if you haven't heard of the case then I doubt the movie is going to tell you enough to get a full view of the case. There were many different stories told by the suspects and a couple of them are looked at here but in the end the movie just isn't strong enough to work. I found Pollan to go over the top way too many times and at points in the film she'd become quite annoying. The big prayer sequence was so over acted that I wanted to look away. Some could call this TV acting, which to me is unfair to say but I wasn't impressed. The direction is decent but the screenplay could have used some work. The film tries to tell a big message of being careful when you're overseas but I think it overlooks the biggest flaw in the real story and that's 18-year-old girls shouldn't be given the keys to run wild in a foreign place and getting drunk. The drinking issue is the real message that should have been given off because sadly, this isn't the first girl to get drunk and have something bad happen to her by the hands of a guy.

MarieGabrielle While the performances are predictable and the story, well, we can see the same theme on "Nancy Grace"/HLN News every evening, it is important for teens and people traveling to small countries to be aware of the facts presented in this film.Tracy Pollan is believable as Natalee Holloway's mother, a woman who is enraged and galvanized into action when she realizes the death of her daughter was covered up, the perpetrators protected. While certainly this is an upsetting situation, the victim herself was caught in a situation, not realizing the possible outcome.I would suggest that schools promoting such trips be required to provide more guidelines, partying and having fun is all well and good, but when you are in a foreign country, especially if a female,and alone, you need to know how to protect yourself. Teens who have never traveled can scarcely be expected to safeguard against things they have never been made aware of.The reality is that there is no such thing as international law. I was told this in Acapulco, after being injured in a hotel, the hotel paid the medical expenses, but the fact is that, if you are traveling to other countries you need to be aware of their laws. You must be aware of how to protect yourself, and please don't expect the American Embassy to help (See the films "Red Corner" with Richard Gere, and "Midnight Express" with Brad Davis).Worth seeing for the message. Recommended. 7/10.