‘Last Chance’ Shows Costs Of Drug Abuse
Kellie Martin plays a bad girl who struggles to find her way in NBC’s “Her Last Chance” at 9.
Martin, who we’ve watched grow up since her days on ABC’s “Life Goes On,” is convincing as Los Angeles teenager Alex Saxen, who loves to party, drink and use drugs.
The opening scene is a scary introduction.
She and boyfriend Preston (Jonathan Brandis) are in the wrong place at the wrong time when the drug dealers they’re doing business with are robbed by heavily armed rival drug thugs.
The brush with death only provides a new high. They go on a drug binge that gets out of control, and Alex ends up in the hands of the police.
Her single mother (Patti LuPone), having reached the end of her rope, signs her daughter into a residential rehabilitation program.
This film is honest and insightful in its depiction of drug counseling and a troubled teen’s difficult journey to escape abuse and addiction. The highlight is an angry confrontation between mother and daughter in a group session that is so well-acted I almost forget I was watching a TV movie.
It didn’t take long to come down to earth, however. After Alex begins to put her life together the story takes a sharp and unfortunate turn.
“Her Last Chance” wanders into more typical fare - a contrived crime tale.
Screenwriter Kathleen Rowell places Alex and her friends in that great Los Angeles shrine to juvenile delinquents, the Griffith Observatory, made famous by 1955’s “Rebel Without a Cause.” It just doesn’t jell with the rest of the movie.
Nonetheless, Martin and LuPone work splendidly together, and the message that drug abuse is linked to self-esteem still gets through.
Highlights
“Profit,” FOX at 8: This hypnotic drama shows great promise in a two-hour-long premiere. Adrian Pasdar stars as James Profit, a devious corporate rat who’ll do anything to get what he wants.
He’s a charmer whose pleasant smile masks a sociopath. Using blackmail to gain top computer clearance, he mows down rivals right and left.
Will he get caught? Will he pay for his deceit?
Unlike “American Gothic,” where the anti-hero was demonic, this bad guy bears scars - literally - from an abused childhood. From producer Stephen J. Cannell (“Wiseguy”), this is one to watch.
“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” NBC at 8: Will (Will Smith) finds religion when he attends a church service. Aunt Vivian (Daphne Maxwell Reid) finds something else - a minister (guest-star Richard Roundtree) whose spirit is strong but whose flesh is weak.
“Almost Perfect,” CBS at 8:30: It’s nice to see Bonnie Franklin (“One Day at a Time”) guest-starring in this often-funny romantic comedy.
Kim (Nancy Travis) and Mike (Kevin Kilner) decide to move in together. But Kim is upset that Mike can’t bring himself to tell his mother (Franklin), who thinks her son is throwing his life away.
“High Incident,” ABC at 9: My favorite cop in this series, Russell (Louis Mustillo), gets the hero treatment from an attractive woman after he arrests the man who robbed her.
Cable Calls
“Monday Night Concerts,” TNN at 5 and 9: The series premieres with Wynonna and Michael McDonald. She sings “Somebody to Love You.” McDonald, former member of The Doobie Brothers, performs “What a Fool Believes.” Ricky Skaggs hosts the hour.
“To Love or Kill: Man vs. Animals,” HBO at 10: This graphic and upsetting “American Undercover” documentary will echo in your mind for some time as it contrasts the treatment of animals in various cultures.
While animals are practically worshiped in some corners of the world, they are treated horribly elsewhere. The gory details get to be a bit much, but the message is haunting.
A few people who watch this may become instant vegetarians.
Talk Time
“Tonight,” NBC at 11:35: O.J. Simpson prosecutor Christopher Darden, Cybill Shepherd (“Cybill”) and music group The Mavericks.
“Late Show With David Letterman,” CBS at 11:35: David Hyde Pierce (“Frasier”), actress Amy Brenneman and singer Tori Amos.
“Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” NBC at 12:35 a.m.: Director Martin Scorsese, Richard Belzer (“Homicide: Life on the Street”) and musical guest Lisa Loeb. Repeat.