The director Antonia Bird has a history of dealing brilliantly with big issues, such as in the excellent Priest which looked at religion, homosexuality and child abuse, and told its story in a very accessible way. She got an amazing performance out of Linus Roache. And this project is no different. Its presentation of one man's disintegration - an equally impressive Steven Mackintosh - and inability to lead a functional adult life because of the trauma he has suffered is incredibly affecting. The drama includes both his abuse at the hands of men who were his carers and the consequences of that abuse when he's trying to sustain a relationship. The end scenes have stayed with me, even though I saw this six years ago, and their impact is increased by the very fact of their indicating just how devastating abuse is. I don't think you can ever really make too many excellent films about taboo subjects, given that this problem has never really gone away or been out of the news. In contrast to this other reviewer, I'd highly recommend watching Care. Brilliantly directed and performed. But not happy viewing.
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joannemace-11 September 2006
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I am not sure what the previous reviewer meant by saying that something in this film was amusing. Amusing it is not. But it grabs you and pulls you in and you can't stop watching. Steven Mackintosh is superb and his last scene was so sad. The loyal strength of his girlfriend is also immensely touching.
Quite a number of important points are made about problems like child abuse. The most important is the way lawyers and insurance companies can push an organisation into a cover-up. Another is that, hard as this might be to accept, Davey and the others would have been better off if the case had never been investigated. It is giving evidence and not being believed which pushes him to the edge, not the original abuse. A terrible dilemma. -
nsvsv9922 November 2001This movie is very difficult to watch, but it ought to be seen by everyone. It's hard to believe such evil people exist, that would treat kids like this. But they do. And the rest of us, the society, we fail in helping the abused because we don't want to know what's going on. The acting is very good in general, but Macintosh is simply brilliant!
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GilraenEstel6 November 2000For the past few years, stories of child-abuse within childrens homes has been in the news throughout England and Wales.
This story concerns Davey Younger, a mischevious lad who's put in care for a tad of trouble-making, and is subjected to unspeakable horrors by the people who are supposed to be looking after him. Davey finds that everyone that he turns to simply doesn't want to know or simply doesn't care. Even the suicide of his friend John isn't enough to cause an investigation.
Then, we see Davey as a grown man, trying to forge a relationship with single-mum Pauline and her three children. He seems normal to the outside world, and even to Pauline, but when the story breaks in the news, Davey begins to crack.
Steven Mackintosh deals with his role as Davey wonderfully, portraying him as the mixed up, confused person that he is. This film is excrutiating to watch and the ending is unbearable. However, director Antonia Bird deals with both the subject and the film extremely well (just as she did in Priest(1994)) and presents a wonderful film for those who can actually bear to watch it. -
id24713 January 2004I watched this film for the first time on Polish TV last night, and it blew me away.
I've been an admirer of Steven Mackintosh's performances for many years, but this is his tour-de-force.
Like many people director Antonia Bird caught my attention in 1994 when Bird was premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival.
Together Bird and Mackintosh, well supported by an excellent cast, create a harrowing, shocking and nerve-shattering drama that only us Brits could make with such brutal honesty.
Well done all of you involved. 10/10 -
digo-42 October 2001This movie is a must see for anyone who appreciates no-bulls**t straight to the point story-telling and great acting. An unbelievable performance by Steven Macintosh who is IMHO one of the best British actors. Hollywood should take lessons out of British movies and tv-series. One of the best things ever seen on television!
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glen03058525 December 2000I was quite shocked to see how damn good this was especially considering Made forTV movies are made for TV for a reason, they suck! Antonia Bird's quite fast moving, yet thoroughly intriguing direction kept me on the edge of my seat through some quite dramatic but not graphic molestation sequences. Child abuse seems to be quite a fashion in recent hollywood, and it's good to see the BBC catching on and ripping them off!
Great performances from Steve Mackintosh as Davey as a grown up, who was pretty sweet in Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels! Also a damn fine performance from Alun Evans, who played Gareth, the kid who falls down on his knees and cries like a girl! -
Didier-Becu8 March 2004Will there be please coming an end to hyping movies that are dealing about social conflicts or other human disasters? Okay "Care" is about childabuse, "Care" is about perverts misusing boys in a school and how disgusting it might be, if it's a movie with a poor script and made with bad playing actors then it stays a bad movie. "Care" is a movie that could have been, but is it because it was a tvmovie I don't know but everything seemed so limited that it comes over as some cheap movie that will be seen by some housewifes and fathers who decide not to go to bed. There are so many unanswered things in this movie...the relation with his mother for instance or the death of some abused boy from which we know nothing more. "Care" should have been much much better.
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gemmamclenaghan27 April 2022Hi this was the best thing I've watched I was only 10 when I watched this with my mum who's suddenly passed so I'm desperate to find the song at the end of the movie she loved it and I would like to listen and I would really love to watch it again but seems impossible ? Please help.
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qui_j8 October 2021This is your average BBC TV movie of the 1990s and 2000s that is so badly done so as to make little sense. The editing is all over the place, the timeline fluid to the point where the viewer is jerked back and forth. While the message of the movie is an important one, and the story sad, the poor quality production makes a mockery of both! Low budget productions can often be good.....this is horrible!