MartinHafer The story in "Message to My Daughter" is very, very maudlin...so I am warning you. If you are depressed, it's NOT a good film to see and it's definitely a film to watch with a box of Kleenex nearby!When the film begins, young Miranda (Kitty Winn) is driving like she would just as soon die...and she nearly does! She winds up in the hospital and her father (Martin Sheen) is scared but only seems to know how to yell at her. Later, after trying very unsuccessfully to communicate with her about her problems, he offers her a VERY strange gift--a stack of audio recordings her mother made specifically to be given to Miranda when she is older. What is this all about anyway? Well, it seems that Miranda's mom, Janet (Bonnie Bedelia) died when Miranda was only a toddler...and the tapes consist of her mother talking to her, talking about her life and giving her nuggets of wisdom (such as a sex talk, dealing with parents, struggling with wanting to get an abortion, etc.). The plot is a bit contrived and odd, that's for sure! But it IS something will suck you into the film as Miranda goes through a journey of self-discovery.Overall, this is a very good and very manipulative film...with a theme song that might just annoy the heck out of you. In the 1970s it worked...today...not so much. A great film if you're looking for a good cry. And, quite daring since it deals with abortion...which was hardly ever talked about at the time or even now.By the way, wouldn't the tapes have been reel to reel since the mother died in 1956? Cassettes weren't invented until 1962. Yet, oddly, it's all on cassettes.

peaches102754 I saw this movie in 1976 while I was pregnant with my son. I thought I would never stop crying....(actually I haven't) but I remember if I had a girl I was going to name her Miranda...his name is Matthew so that never happened but it made an impact on me. I am going to get if for my 21 year old daughter to watch since she has a one year old now. My daughter was on her way to have an abortion, but did not do it. She decided to keep her child even though there would be a lot of difficulty since her father and I are divorced and I live in another state now. She has not been diagnosed with a terminal illness however leaving a recorded message to our daughters is not a bad idea. As we grow and age and times change basically we all have the same human behaviors and feelings of those who have gone before us, the fears and rejection. There is no greater rejection than abortion even though it is a woman's right to choose.

Reteena The first time I saw this movie I was 9 or 10. The movie is much more about the mother whose recounting events on a audio tapes for her daughter. Her daughter listens to the tapes when she is about 17 or 18. I don't want to give too much away, but by the end of the movie you are totally experiencing the multiplicity of emotions that her daughter experiences. I loved every single person in this movie - all of them. If you need a super deep cry, grab this one and a large box of Kleenex. It is moving, touching, and as the other reviewer said, way ahead of its time.PS - This is not sappy, unrealistic or predictable, either. It's not a "Terms of Endearment" or anything like that, either.

Brigid O Sullivan (wisewebwoman) This is a movie ahead of its time in its portrayal of a troubled young woman who decides not to have an abortion. In her tapes to her daughter, she is real, angry at times, hostile to her own parents. When I saw it years ago on TV I remember a different soundtrack, a John Denver one, with "sunshine on my shoulder" being the theme. I must have mixed up movies. The movie itself left a lasting impression on me, as my mother had died two years before. I bought it the other day. It is dated and rather choppy now. The daughter's character is not fully explored but the mother's is. A good double hanky number.