Caroline? (1990)

14 years after she "died" in a plane crash, a young woman named Caroline (Stephanie Zimbalist) returns to the family home. Her mother dead, her father (George Grizzard) remarried to a younger woman (Pamela Reed) and a new family, two children (Shawn Phelan, Jenny Jacobs). But is she really the prodigal daughter returned and is it just coincidence that she arrives in time to collect an inheritance from her grandmother? Based on the novel FATHER'S ARCANE DAUGHTER by E.L. Konigsburg and directed by Joseph Sargent (TAKING OF PELHAM 123). Winner of four Emmy awards including best drama and best director, this is a decent drama with the added element of a mystery. Is Caroline who she says she is or is she an impostor? Why did she stay away for 14 years and why return home now? We get all the answers by the time the movie wraps it up but there's some strong thematic elements that elevate it. The second wife (Reed) loves her children but is overly protective to the point that she refuses to let her disabled daughter grow up and uses her son as his sister's caretaker which doesn't allow him a normal childhood. Two veteran actresses shine in supporting roles: Patricia Neal as the principal of Caroline's former school and Dorothy McGuire as her grandmother.