Sorry, this movie sucks

Great Film overall

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This was the powerful true story of the abduction and murder of Adam Walsh and his parents' crusade to get legislation passed to aid abducted children to prevent such a thing from happening again-in other words, tougher standards. Adam is abducted from a Hollywood, Florida, mall and is later found murdered. His father, John Walsh, pushes for tougher legislation for the FBI to get involved with the aid of Richard Masur's character. Great performances all around, especially from Masur and Daniel J. Travanti as John Walsh. This was also a terrific movie with a message in it and a fabulous ending and a must-see for anyone. I strongly recommend it! *** 1/2 out of ****

At the age of 11, I was already a paranoid older sister. I was "trained" to watch my younger siblings with the warnings, "If you don't watch them, someone will snatch them and rape and murder them, and then you'll be sorry."I'll never have children. I'm not a coward. I've already done the mother thing, and it was a nightmare that only ended when my siblings grew up, moved on, got married. So in a way, I can identify with the guilt and grief the Walsh family shared. Daniel J. Travanti's performance was so powerful, and so was JoBeth Williams'. This movie terrified me and knocked any remaining naivete from me. I was already a basketcase before the film aired. After, I was convinced that there are too many predators out there, cowards with sick perversions, and that unless you watch your kids like a hawk, one of the millions of lurking demons will come and steal your child. Reve Walsh was gone all of 5 minutes. That's all it takes. After 30 years, this made for TV movie remains powerful, unbearably real and painful in its production and presentation. Part of the reason it's watchable for me (mostly) is the cast, including one of my all time favorite actors, Richard Masur, along with Martha Scott as Adam's grandmother and Mason Adams as John Walsh's friend and coworker who helped speak to police agencies in Florida to get the search for Adam moving faster than it would have. It's so terrible how it takes a brutal murder to motivate this country into action. In 1981, the FBI did not place a missing child on their list of priorities. Adam's death caused his parents to go to bat for innocent children. I don't subscribe to that "everything happens for a reason" stuff. When a child is stolen and murdered, it is senseless, pure evil, not the will of "God". I will say that Adam did not die in vain. His sad story woke up a nation to reality. He is the inspiration and his family are heroes who have paved the way. We now have Megan's Law and Amber alerts. We now know how urgent and imperative it is to react NOW when a child goes missing.

I can remember watching this movie when I was about 6 or 7 years old and I can also remember the emotional impact that it had on me as I watched knowing that it was all based on a true story. The things the Walsh family has done over the years in response to what happened to Adam has really had an ENORMOUS impact on the way child abduction cases have been handled! The perseverance and determination of the Walsh family, such as John Walsh's role in the TV show America's Most Wanted and as co-founder of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, has not only saved the lives of others, but has probably also deterred some from committing deplorable acts like what happened to their son Adam. John and Reve Walsh truly are heroes!

It's a shame these made-for-TV movies are hardly getting a second chance nowadays, but a few have one thing in common: inspiration through willpower. ADAM is one such movie, and to this very day, it remains as powerful as it gets! This chronicles the movement of awareness from a fictional John Walsh to deliver the message to America about lost children following a true-life situation that shatters our hearts. It is a struggle for hope and accomplishment that results into a winningly emotional, and lesson-filled drama for all parents who raise young children. Walsh, as many of us know, hosts the long running and highly acclaimed AMERICA'S MOST WANTED. Here, he's the important role in the care of this film, making him (and this film) a benchmark example of support for the nationwide communities, and to the federal government. This one is so compelling, and so inspirational that it would be way too difficult not to recommend it. And the fact that ADAM is vital to the importance of our society would require a mandatory family viewing. Keep it up, John!