OK, so this is a made-for-TV movie, so don't go expecting Ocar-winning performances..... Adopt that outlook and this film will have you blown over!! For such an unusual subject matter as a beaten husband, it takes a very good actor to play that role convincingly. The character must be portrayed not as a cowering weakling, nor an angry, affronted paragon of masculinity... But as a normal, real man. There is only ever one REAL man in the movie industry and he's right here in the lead role - Peter Strauss.By Real Man, I do mean that he responds as most real men would when suddenly battered by the one person they love beyond all else... Out of love. People who love stay with their beloved, as long as they can and you can feel every moment of angst in Strauss's performance. Even at the very end, you can tell he has nothing but absolute love for his wife and what he does is done because of that love.This is my first film with Judith Light and several other cast members. Light's performance as a loving yet unhinged wife did come across as slightly over-the-top, but that just makes it necessarily dramatic and hammers home effectively the years of abuse in the 95 minutes such a production is limited to.The supporting cast too deliver their roles well, but as with all such acting styles that find their way into TV movies, you have to watch closely to see the best of it as, just like in real life, it is very subtle.For some reason, this film attracted a lot of negativity from certain womens groups. Perhaps because, like most people, they don't believe such a thing could ever be true and are just as shocked when they discover it is far more prevalent than anyone could imagine.Conclusion: Another ABSOLUTE must see from the Strauss repertoire!!

I was wondering if anyone knew where i could purchase this video. I've looked around and still cant find a store that carries it. I live in New York. I've checked blockbuster, family video, F.Y.E in and around geneva and rochester NY and have had no luck. I have also checked Amazon.com and found nothing. I eventually found it on this site which is the 1993 movie with Peter Strauss. But there was no way to purchase it from this site that I'm aware of. This is a movie that shows the other side of spousal abuse that is apparently rarely reported. I would greatly appreciate a response in my efforts to locate this film. It is a major interest of mine to investigate this topic further.

I have not been able to see this movie all the way through because I never know when it's showing on TV. Also, I have to be careful not to draw attention to my search for it because I don't know how my wife would take it. The subject matter is seriously personal and there has never been any other movie addressing it, that I'm aware of. My wife has a violent temper that I did not find out about until after we were married. After 25 years of marriage she is finally mellowing out but she refuses to discuss her abusive actions nor to seek professional help. I have done all that I can to keep our children from being emotionally ruined and they are able to discuss it now that they are older. I am looking for 2 copies of the movie on DVD. Apparently, CBS first aired it in 1993 but does not own it. So, they cannot copy it.I'm trying to figure out who owns it and can provide copies.I can use some help.

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** In the viscious circle of abuse, men usually do the abusing & wives usually are the abused. NOT in this case! The working-class handsome Strauss does all he can to please his wife but it's just not good enough for her (or her mother, played by Carroll Baker). Judith Light of Who's the Boss? fame takes an eerie turn as the drinks-too-much housewife who's never satisfied even though her long-suffering husband (Strauss) loves her dearly. When they make-up after each of the beatings she gives him, it is cinema-sweet. But you wonder how much longer Strauss is gonna take this mess! He loses it when wacky wifey goes after their daughter in one of her rages! Even thought Strauss tells the real truth - that wifey hits him - the whole police station just won't buy it! Wifey ends up in the hospital in a coma after both of them fall out of a window while fighting. Bruised, beaten & bleeding Strauss is rightly in despair. In the end, he tells her she definitely needs to go get some mental help & leaves her, taking their 2 kids. Yes, this TV movie was a real eye-opener. See it! Once you do, you'll never doubt a man who claims his wife beats him again! Excellent work by these 2. And whoever played Strauss's father in this movie was physically the right guy for the role. They really do look like they came from the same family line!