Saturday, April 20, 2002
By MARK SACHS, Times Staff Writer
The "disease of the week" genre has been a TV staple for decades, to the point where viewers who have been burned once too often have become immune to even the slickest of promotional campaigns.
But don't let the afflictions of the past lead you to cast a jaundiced eye toward Sunday's little gem of a movie "Two Against Time" (CBS, 9 p.m.). Director David Anspaugh and co-stars Marlo Thomas and Ellen Muth turn what might have been a routine emotional button-pusher into an achingly beautiful story of a mother and daughter's struggle for survival.
Anspaugh has distinguished himself previously in a pair of sports-related theatrical releases, "Hoosiers" (1983) and "Rudy" (1993), and he uses the against-all-odds themes learned there to wrenching effect in this film, which, like the other two, is based on a true story. Thomas is exceptional as Julie Portman, a divorced mom whose strained relationship with her rebellious daughter, Emma (Muth), seems to be the biggest problem in her life. Not for long, and not by a long shot.
What first appears to be just a sore elbow for Emma is diagnosed as a cancer that attacks muscle tissue. The grueling treatment regimen that follows puts the roles of mother and daughter in a new light, helping bring them together even as the disease threatens to tear them apart--forever.
But there's another shoe that's about to drop, and it comes with a thud that shakes both mother and daughter to their core. Julie is diagnosed with breast cancer, and her plight suddenly puts an ominous new spin on the pair's caregiver-patient arrangement.
Along the way, Anspaugh shows uncommon craft in building several pivotal scenes that lend strength and nuance to the movie, and David Shire's music is a marvel of restrained elegance.
And in the end, "Two Against Time" shows just how precious that time can be.
'Time' for a Silly Disease-Of-The-Week Movie
Fri Apr 19, 5:31 AM ET
By Steven Oxman
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - TV movies are dead, you know. They don't make them anymore.
At least not the traditional ones, not the ones, say, about single mothers with cancer, or single mothers with daughters who get cancer. Those are just so '70s. Someone, though, forgot to tell that to '70s icon Marlo Thomas and CBS. "Two Against Time" tells the story of a single mother and her rebellious teenage daughter who BOTH get cancer, and it's filled with one absurdly cliched, and highly affecting, scene after the other. Admirably capable of exhausting a year's supply of tissues in a single sitting, this telepic will be a miracle cure for fans of this shamelessly sappy genre in its death throes.
Director David Anspaugh ("Rudy") does a strong job of setting up the specifics of the generic mother-daughter relationship. Julie Portman (Thomas) is a hard-working single mom who will do anything for her kids. Her teenage daughter Emma (a strong Ellen Muth) doesn't appreciate that, alas. She just wants her mom to leave her alone, even if that means allowing her to skip school and smoke pot with her boyfriend.
Casey Kurtti and Peter Nelson's teleplay really does come off at the start like a class in Mother-Daughter 101. Then it becomes a class in Cancer Diagnosis 101. Along the way, the piece certainly does generate power with these basic tools.
There's one scene that pretty much says it all, both how silly the film is, and how appealing it is in its silliness. After Emma has been diagnosed with cancer, she tries to drive off with her boyfriend after school rather than let her mom take her to the hospital. In the school parking lot, Julie blocks her daughter's path with the family station wagon (she's a single mom, what else would she possibly drive?) and gives a big-time soliloquy, making it very very VERY clear that nothing will stop her from getting Emma to the doctor. Thomas gives it her all, milking this mixture of Mother Theresa and Mommie Dearest. And it works.
Once Julie also comes down with cancer, everyone involved can keep the raw sentimentality at bay for only so long. And once Anspaugh and Thomas let it out, it's a deluge. It's a parade of sweet reconciliation scenes and everything's-going-to-be-all right-no-it's-not scenes between mom and daughter, who wear a series of different wigs.
The film stops creating more emotional steam well before it ends, and the through-lines dealing with Julie's unresolved issues --anger at her late mother, letting herself be loved by a good guy (Joe Penny) -- don't work at all. For the last half hour, all the movie does is bathe everyone in the pretty stifling sauna.
Julie Portman ...... Marlo Thomas
Emma Portman ....... Ellen Muth
Robert Portman ..... Peter Friedman
Connie Matthews .... Karen Robinson
Michael Portman .... Troy Hall
With: Drew Nelson, Daniel Petronijevic, David Eisner, Jim Codrington, Allegra Fulton, Diane D'Aquila, Kristin Booth, Shelly Peterson, Kim Roberts, Leanna Barnes, Ronn Sarosiak, Tom Masek, Helen Taylor.
Filmed in Toronto by Open Road Prods. and Let's Pretend Prods. in association with Columbia TriStar Television. Executive producers, Carol Abrams, Adrienne Levin, Marlo Thomas; producer, Lynn Raynor; director, David Anspaugh; writers, Casey Kurtti, Peter Nelson; story, Casey Kurtti; cinematography, Johnny Jensen; production design, Linda Burton; editor, Christopher Cibelli; music, David Shire; casting, Phyllis Huffman, Olivia Harris, Tina Gerussi.
Two Against Time Apr. 19, 2002
By Michael R. Farkash (Hollywood Reporter)
A highly sentimental, sorrowful tragedy based on a true story, "Two Against Time" gives Marlo Thomas the opportunity to play a dramatic, flawed character on the way to redemption.
The acting is fine, with a script long on suffering but short on story and multidimensional characters. We never get to go underneath the characters' skins before we're asked to cry for them. "Time" seems a little too generic in terms of story and character, though Thomas and Ellen Muth do invest quite a bit in their portrayals.
Those in the mood for tears and tragedy -- and a mother-and-daughter reconciliation -- are the most likely to embrace this telefilm, for which Thomas also is one of the executive producers.
Thomas stars as an ultimately noble character who suffers with grand dignity as she faces a life-threatening illness. She plays Julie Portman, a neurotic, somewhat controlling, divorced woman who is at constant odds with her rebellious teenage daughter, Emma (Muth, "Cora Unashamed"). Emma, who apparently is suffering from divorced-parents fallout, is doing poorly at school and only wants to make out with her boyfriend.
When Emma is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, Julie puts her life on hold to help her daughter. But Emma remains fairly self-absorbed as she undergoes chemotherapy, resentful of indignities like the loss of her hair.
Then Julie is diagnosed with cancer and also must go through chemotherapy, in the kind of odd, unfortunate coincidence that mostly happens in real life -- or in drama based on real events. Believably, Emma is at first concerned about teen humiliation, upset at things like Julie being seen without a wig. But maybe that's part of the denial process.
But of course, things change. Sometimes, all it takes is a life-threatening illness to make family members realize how much they love one another. And if a single illness is good, two disease-stricken characters must be great.
Julie must now care not only for her daughter but also herself, so she puts on hold a burgeoning relationship with fisherman George Tomich (Joe Penny, "The Sopranos"). We might have cared more about the relationship if more time had been spent dealing with their relationship before the illness struck.
The dialogue is not all that memorable, and it's so on target that there's no mystery or surprise or sufficient subtext about people's feelings. The daughter goes through the expected arc -- from selfish, emotionally distraught teen to loving, nurturing daughter -- in what seems to be a very short time. Thomas' character gets plenty of screen time as someone who learns to give up her rigid, controlling parenting pattern in favor of unconditional loving. Fortunately, Thomas is eminently watchable.
TWO AGAINST TIME
CBS
Open Road Productions Inc. and Let's Pretend Prods.
Distributed by Columbia TriStar Television
Credits:
Executive producers: Carol Abrams, Adrienne Levin, Marlo Thomas
Producer: Lynn Raynor
Director: David Anspaugh
Writers: Casey Kurtti, Peter Nelson
Production manager: Marc Dassas
Director of photography: Johnny Jensen
Production designer: Linda Burton
Editor: Christopher Cibelli
Casting: Phyllis Huffman, Olivia Harris
Location casting: Tina Gerussi
Music: David Shire
Costume designer: Margaret Mohr
Production sound mixer: Robert Scherer
Cast: Marlo Thomas, Ellen Muth, Joe Penny, Peter Friedman, Karen Robinson, Troy Hall, Drew Nelson, Daniel Petronijevic, David Eisner, Jim Codrington, Allegra Fulton, Diane D'Aquila, Kristin Booth, Shelly Peterson, Kim Roberts, Leanna Barnes, Ronn Sarosiak, Tom Masek, Helen Taylor, Marty Moreau, Michele Ferney, Neshera Tingling, Caley Wilson, Todd Dulmage, Vicki Papays, Grace Armas, Julie Watson, Natalie Urquhart, Jessica Beitchman, Marvin Hinz
By Ed Bark(c) 2002, The Dallas Morning News.
Marlo Thomas' first TV movie in eight years isn't for log-sawing, manly men or probably pantywaists either. Nor is it aimed at a certain 54-year-old male TV critic who falls somewhere in-between those two extremes while making periodic forays toward his slowly congealing "feminine side."
No matter. We're still looking at a large group of more valued, sensitive viewers, otherwise known as women. That's where "Two Against Time" will stake its claim. It's a movie that's assuredly destined for the Lifetime cable network after CBS is finished with it. Thomas, a certified TV icon in the tradition of Mary Tyler Moore and Patty Duke, is now 63 years old and 31 years removed from the last original episode of ABC's super-perky "That Girl." Remember how she used to "rebel" against her parents by licking the frosting off Oreo cookies or something? Now she's playing a divorced, controlling mom whose headstrong teen daughter at one point calls her a "psycho." But they eventually bond better than Elmer's Glue after cancer threatens both of their lives.
In a "Dear Television Editor" letter no doubt meant for only yours truly, Thomas says she has "always been fascinated by the theme of love and reconciliation. And although the story is about a mother and a daughter, it could really be about any two people who have been estranged, yet find each other again before time runs out."
Time in this case is a very predictably plotted two-hour film minus a half-hour for commercials and previews of upcoming May "sweeps" attractions. Thomas used to be a big enough deal to command a sweeps slot herself. No more. While her husband, Phil Donahue, preps for his return to TV this summer on the small-fry MSNBC cable network, Thomas takes what she can get on the only remaining broadcast TV network with weekly Sunday night movie vacancies.
Filmed in snowy, freezing but economically feasible Toronto, "Two Against Time" begins with Julie Portman ( Thomas) happily minding her kitchen. Then her good-as-gold son, Michael (Troy Hall), pops in to say that school's going great, but he can't get his grades until Dad Robert (Peter Friedman) sends a tuition check.
"That sonofa " Julie says before spiking her tongue. The hell-in-a-handbasket motif is soon in full swing. Robert has lost his job, causing Julie to upbraid him until he finally must retort, "Who the hell are you? The Queen of England?"
Then school-skipping daughter, Emma (Ellen Muth), is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in her arm. She's a pistol of a patient, of course, and none too happy with Mom's pesky attentive care.
A trip to the hospital for a yearly mammogram is the film's sure-fire tip-off that Mom soon will be battling cancer, too. These are not trivial matters, of course. But "Two Against Time's" connect-the-dots plot leaves little to the imagination.
The other principal character is painfully earnest fisherman George Tomich (Joe Penny), whose fresh catches help supply Julie's catering business. Boy, the guy really pines for her, but she keeps shutting him out.
At one point, though, Julie tells him some of her favorite things, such as watching reruns of "The Honeymooners." This is fortuitous, because CBS has "The Honeymooners 50th Anniversary Special" scheduled for May 6. What luck!
Penny, still a relative kid at 45, is stuck with double-helpings of the film's oft-syrupy dialogue. But Thomas trumps him with this groaner: "I really like you. You like music and Aristotle and you're kind. I don't want to wake up to feelings that are stirring. This just isn't the right time."
Of course he's always there when she needs him. But the film does a poor job of abruptly putting them back together again. And a meeting of the minds between Julie and her angry daughter also materializes out of mostly thin air after Mom tells her she first met Dad while buying a toilet seat. Did some of the intended transitional scenes end up hitting the cutting room floor? It sure seems so.
Thomas does have a handful of strong scenes, all the while looking at least a dozen years younger than she is in real life. And despite its overall weak structure, the film's conclusion likely will leave many viewers either teary-eyed or weeping copiously. Even this grizzled member of the male species got a little misty when Thomas' gravely ill Julie finally unlocked her own emotional closet and said, "I wish I had my momma."
Everyone does from time to time. But in the end, "Two Against Time" also makes some of us cry uncle.
Liz Smith,April 19,2002
PREPARE TO be knocked out by Marlo Thomas' powerful performance in "Two Against Time," happening on CBS this Sunday. (I've seen it!) That girl, Marlo, plays a fierce lioness-type mother who tries to protect and rein in her rebellious daughter. Marlo, glamorous in real life, has no vanity when it comes to a role. She puts passion and very little makeup into this part, exemplifying the complicated mother-daughter relationship.
Now Marlo can buy a pretty dress because I'm fairly sure we'll be seeing her in September at the Emmy Awards. Mrs. Phil Donahue is already having a hell of a year. Her book, "The Right Words at the Right Time," comes out April 26, with pals Mike Nichols, Diane Sawyer and Diane von Furstenberg giving her a party. Then Barry Diller and Jennifer Aniston follow suit in L.A. (Marlo asked 108 influential Americans to share the best advice they ever received. Proceeds from the book go to the St. Jude's Re! search Hospital.)
Marlo will also have a special on Lifetime, airing May 15. Titled "Our Hero's Ourselves." And here's a scoop, she shows up at Rachel's shower, playing Aniston's mother on "Friends." You can catch this April 25.We could let Marlo pass "Go" and collect $200 right now but that wouldn't stop her.
The Public Speaks
from Gloria,Rancho Cucamonga, CA
I am a breast cancer survior--for the second time. When I read what "Two Against Time" was about I almost didn't watch it. Yet, I felt compelled to and I'm glad I did.
I was angry with Emma at first when she acted so selfishly, and as I perceived her, with so little courage. I wasn't prepared for how emotional I became from the point that Julie said to her son, Michael, that she had breast cancer. I cried softly. It was an emotional punch in the stomach. From that point, I cried with Julie as she lost her hair, dealt with chemo and how it ravages your looks.
I sobbed uncontrollably through the shower scene remembering how I felt the same way.
I sobbed uncontrollably when Julie related her story of her mother's withdrawal (really death) when Julie was fourteen. My mother, the person I have loved most in this world, died when I was nineteen. Watching Julie die reminded me of my two aunts (my mother's sisters) who both died of bone cancer. I know how people die. I sobbed uncontrollably.
As I watched Emma bravely watching her mother die as she released her by telling her to let go that she would be okay, I sobbed uncontrollably. After I had my mastectomy with breast reconstruction and my first chemo treatment, my father died. He was in the hospital with congestive heart failure. Since I couldn't see him once I started chemo, I sat beside him the evening before and said good-bye. I told him I loved him. I thanked him for all he had done for me. I told him I was going to be okay and if he was tired and wanted to go then he should go. I cried. He died a week later.
I finished chemo three months ago. My hair is just over a quarter-inch. I have one more surgery at the end of April that will finish the reconstruction. I will return to work sometime the beginning of June.
I am so grateful that God has touched me so lightly for the second time. I am lucky that the cancer was caught early again. I am going to live. I want to thank you, Marlo, for this wonderful movie. I want to thank you for your unceasing work on behalf of all cancer patients. I am a partner with St. Jude's Hospital and was even before this second cancer.
The last thing I'd like to say is that I am a devout Catholic. I honestly don't know how people get through life's challenges without a deep, profound belief and love of God. That is my strength. I solemnly ask God's grace and blessings to those who don't.
Thank you Gloria for your inspiration and your own sense of courage.
You will always be in our thoughts and prayers.Jeff
Marlo still has clout!
Prime-Time Nielsen Ratings
Prime-time ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research for April 15-21. Top 20 listings include the week's ranking, with rating for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses.
The rating is the percentage of the nation's estimated 105.5 million TV homes. Each ratings point represents 1,055,000 households.
1. (3) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (news - Y! TV)," CBS, 13.9, 14.7 million homes.
2. (7) "Survivor: Marquesas," CBS, 11.5, 12.1 million homes.
3. (X) "Friends," NBC, 11.2, 11.8 million homes.
4. (15) "60 Minutes," CBS, 10.9, 11.5 million homes.
4. (1) "Friends," NBC, 10.9, 11.5 million homes.
6. (5) "Everybody Loves Raymond (news - Y! TV)," CBS, 10.5, 11.0 million homes.
6. (6) "Law and Order," NBC, 10.5, 11.1 million homes.
8. (12) "Will & Grace," NBC, 10.4, 11.0 million homes.
9. (13) "Becker," CBS, 8.9, 9.4 million homes.
9. (40) "Primetime Thursday," ABC, 8.9, 9.4 million homes.
11. (25) "Crossing Jordan," NBC, 8.8, 9.3 million homes.
11. (4) "ER," NBC, 8.8, 9.3 million homes.
11. (14) "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit," NBC, 8.8, 9.3 million homes.
14. (30) "CBS Sunday Movie: Two Against Time," CBS, 8.5, 9.0 million homes.
15. (X) "Law and Order," NBC, 8.1, 8.6 million homes.
16. (32) "Fear Factor," NBC, 7.8, 8.2 million homes.
16. (28) "NYPD Blue (news - Y! TV)," ABC, 7.8, 8.2 million homes.
18. (18) "Judging Amy (news - Y! TV)," CBS, 7.7, 8.2 million homes.
18. (22) "Just Shoot Me," NBC, 7.7, 8.1 million homes.
20. (52) "The Bachelor," ABC, 7.6, 8.0 million homes.
