A Rescue in a Flash
Valerie Williamson (Cynthia Gibb) has started dating Steve Walsh (Daniel Roebuck), a wealthy businessman and with her diabetic teenage daughter Claire (Nicole Mu?oz) are due to fly up to Fairbanks Alaska for a vacation. But Steve has to deal with a little business first and so Valerie and Claire find themselves on a small plane with Marcus Vegarra (Zak Santiago) who had previously stolen important data of a computer at a research facility, killing a guard in the process. When the plane crashes, killing the pilot in the process Steve sets about finding them whilst Valerie's mum, Carol (Leslie Easterbrook), fears the worse. The question is; what is whether it is Valerie or what Marcus has which Steve wants the most.
I will say spoiler alert but "A Family Lost" is one of those movies which gives enough hints early on that you can pretty much before the first half hour is up. As such early on we learn that Claire is diabetic and uses an insulin pump so you know that something is going to happen which will put her in diabetic jeopardy. We can also take a good guess that what ever Marcus stole is valuable enough to kill for and that is what will be the prize which Steve is really after when it seems he is frantically searching for Valerie and Claire. As such once you work this out it doesn't take much effort to know that we will have some simple wilderness survival it will then be a battle to survive.
What works for "A Family Lost" is that Cynthia Gibb is likeable as is Zak Santiago despite getting to see that he has a dangerous side. It is their likeable nature which makes up for weaknesses in the writing of the characters as they lack depth. And to be honest Daniel Roebuck is pretty entertaining as a bad guy even though he is a stereotypical bad guy masquerading as a good guy. And that is the old phrase which bests describes "A Family Lost" as all the parts are only stereotypical at best.
What this all boils down to is that "A Family Lost" is just some stereotypical, uncomplicated entertainment for those who enjoy made for TV movies. But this is only stereotypical at best with a plot which is easy to predict long before it gets to where it is going.
