Keep Hankie Handy For ‘Wish’
CBS’ “A Child’s Wish” at 9 takes the disease-of-the-week movie to unexpected heights thanks to solid performances by stars John Ritter, Tess Harper and Anna Chlumsky.
Prepare to shed some tears. This story of a teenager (Chlumsky) with terminal cancer exposes the disease’s devastating effect on her family and the compounded frustration that results when a parent must choose between work and family.
The movie is based on several real-life cases that motivated the signing of the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
The guarantee of time off for family medical emergencies was the first legislation signed by President Bill Clinton, who makes a rare appearance in a dramatic role. The scene, shot in the White House Oval Office, is a stirring moment that caps two hours of high drama.
Chlumsky (“My Girl”) plays the soccer-playing daughter of car salesman Ed Chandler (Ritter). When she is diagnosed with cancer, he’s trapped between his job and his devastated family.
Eventually he’s fired for spending too much time at the hospital.
Ritter turns in a convincing, low-key performance. Chlumsky truly shines. Clinton, though a bit formal, is just right in his brief scene.
You’ll remember this tear-jerker for a long time.
Highlights
“Runaway Car” (1997), FOX at 8: There was “Runaway Train” and then “Speed.” Now we have “Runaway Car,” a decidedly low-speed entry in the high-speed genre.
Nina Siemaszko stars as a nurse whose car careens along a freeway with the accelerator stuck wide open. All means of stopping the car fail (suspend disbelief or take the next exit to another channel) and the gas tank is more than half full.
Judge Reinhold and Brian Hooks co-star as passengers. There’s a baby on board, too.
It’s a mild ride, as once again television helps you appreciate what a $30-million budget can do for a big-screen action movie.
“Promised Land,” CBS at 8: In an emotional episode, Claire (Wendy Phillips) undergoes a biopsy following a mammogram that concerns her doctor. An angel - Della Reese plays her character from “Touched by an Angel” - shows up to comfort Russell (Gerald McRaney) as he awaits results.
The writers deserve kudos for a subplot involving a young woman about to have a mastectomy. Russell encourages her nervous fiance to give her the reassurance she needs.
“Frontline,” KSPS at 9 : Filmmaker Ross McElwee (“Sherman’s March”) goes on the road to find the real stories of victims of murder and disaster he’s “met” on local television news. It’s a thoughtful, but often tedious journey that never reaches its intriguing potential.
“Caroline in the City,” NBC at 9:30: Always-enjoyable Ann Magnuson (“Anything But Love”) guest-stars as a wealthy woman who wants to become artist Richard’s (Malcolm Gets) patron - patron of the boudoir, it appears. Rose Marie (“The Dick Van Dyke Show”) reprises an earlier guest role.
“NYPD Blue,” ABC at 10: As Simone and Sipowicz (Jimmy Smits, Dennis Franz) take heat for investigating a fellow officer in a murder case, Russell (Kim Delaney) struggles with her alcoholism.
Cable Calls
“20th Century Fox: The First 50 Years,” AMC at 5 and 7:15: Film fans will enjoy this better-than-average Hollywood documentary. Spiced with more than 200 film clips, it tells the amazing story of the studio founded by William Fox and nurtured by the immortal Darryl F. Zanuck.