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List Price: $24.95 | | Label: Liberation Ent
Salesrank: 19407
Released: September 4, 2007 |
| Our Price: $13.57 |
| Used Price: $1.66 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
When 16 year-old Stephanie Daley (Amber Tamblyn) faces murder charges in connection with the death of her baby, pregnant forensic-psychologist Lydie Crane (Tilda Swinton) is tapped to unravel the truth. The teen claims to have been unaware of her condition, but as their sessions intensify, Stephanie’s state of denial and Lydie’s fears regarding her own pregnancy reveal a destiny that intertwines them both.
Stephanie Daley Reviews:
An accidental motherhood 
2008-11-24 - For most women, motherhood is supposed to be a happy time in their lives. But this film tackles some very important issues about women, motherhood, marriage and pre-marital teenage sex. We meet Stephanie Daley, 16 year old girl who has one night stand at the party with the boy she barely knows. She is either in denial or totally ignorant about her developing pregnancy when one day during her ski trip she delivers premature baby at the public restroom. Baby ends up dead and the police and legal team needs to determine if this young mother premeditated baby's murder. Incidentally, the psychologist assigned to this case is pregnant herself. It is her second pregnancy after her first one resulted in a birth of a stillborn baby. This woman's own anxieties about her own marriage and pregnancy seem to overlap with the case she is handling. Tilda Swinton delivers great portrayal of a woman trying to keep her personal and professional life together while handling one of the most important cases of her career.
Left me sqeamish 
2008-10-29 - I suppose women will enjoy this more than men. I winced during the birth scenes, but have to admit they are well acted. The plot seems to concern the ambiguities and moral dilemmas we face and the choices we make, which don't always add up for all concerned. A serious movie, but is it entertainment? You decide.
VVVVEEEERRRRYYYY SSSSLLLLOOOOWWWW! 
2008-03-12 - CCCCAAAANNNN YYYYOOOOUUUU SSSSAAAAYYYY TTTTHHHHEEEE WWWWOOOORRRRDDDD SSSSLLLLOOOOWWWW?
This has got to be one of the slowest moving movies of all time! I could have gotten up, driven to the store going the speed limit, driven back home going the speed limit, cooked dinner, popped open a soda, eaten dinner, washed the dishes, sat back down to watch the movie, and probably not missed a thing!
Another reviewer said it all in two words, and I believe that is all that needs to be said...aside from the very well done bathroom scene, which earned the second star of the two, this movie was:
1. contrived
2. ambiguous
Roger Ebert has it all wrong!
Definitely not worth the time or the money!
BOOOOOO!
Stephanie Daley -
2008-03-02 - Short reveiw on a good movie - I don't want to spoil it.
Lydie Crane (Tilda Swinton)is a psychologist who interviews Stephanie Daley (Amber Tamblyn) about the incident that happened on a school skiing trip, for the court side of the case. Stephanie is accused of murdering her newborn child.
-Stephanie collapses with blood at her feet while skiing.
She didn't know she was pregnant.
-Lydie Crane wants to keep her marriage alive and have a baby. Lydie recently had a still born.
The interweaving of the lives of these two individuals as they look through their past, their present and hopes for the future is done very well. This is a very well acted, deep thought movie.
4 stars
intriguing human drama
2008-02-19 - ***1/2
In "Stephanie Daley," Tilda Swinton stars as Lydie Crane, a forensic psychologist in her final months of pregnancy. Despite her condition and the fact that she had a miscarriage less than a year earlier, Lydie agrees to take on the case of a teenaged girl named Stephanie Daley (Amber Tamblyn) who is accused of killing her newborn at childbirth.
Written and directed by Hilary Brougher, "Stephanie Daley" is a human drama wrapped inside a legal whodunit (it's sort of like "Agnes Of God" minus the nuns' habits and beatific visions). Set in scenic Upstate New York, the movie explores the anxieties and fears that many women face before, during and after pregnancy. Lydie's situation very much parallels Stephanie's at times, resulting in a strange symbiotic relationship between the two women. Those parallels aren't always as clearly drawn as they might be, but the positive result is that the story is made less obvious and more intriguing by the ambiguity.
"Stephanie Daley" is a low-keyed, thoughtful work that doesn't go in for flashy melodrama or thematic overstatement. It allows its narrative to unfold slowly, finding much of its drama in the minutiae of everyday life in the small town in which it is set.
The movie is blessed with sensitive, subtle work from not only Swinton and Tamblyn but a large cast of secondary performers, including Timothy Hutton, Kel O'Neill, Denis O'Hare, and others. The relationships in the movie are intricate and complex, and the plot doesn't seek out a preset path or formula to follow. It's not a movie designed to appeal to mainstream audiences much, but for those who prefer their films to wander a bit off the well-beaten path, "Stephanie Daley" offers substantial rewards.
