The
Russell Girl
Our rating: 5 out of 5
Rated: PG
reviewed by Charity Bishop
There is one thing I have learned about Hallmark Hall of Fame dramas over the
years -- it is rare that you will not need a Kleenex before the conclusion.
The Russell Girl is the emotional journey of one young woman's search for
redemption from a tragic mistake, and the healing that goes on in the lives of
the people around her through being forced to confront the past.
It is something no one ever wants to hear: leukemia. And yet it is
exactly what the doctor diagnoses for Sarah Russell (Amber Tamblyn), to
explain away her recent bought of weariness and difficulty keeping food
down. She hangs up the phone, stares dismally across the room, cleans a
few dishes, and then goes home to the small town where she grew up,
without a word of explanation to her parents and nothing but a haunted
expression. While Sarah tries to figure out how to tell her parents the
truth, she wrestles with her grief and guilt over what happened seven
years earlier across the street. The instant she pulls into the
driveway, her neighbor Lorainne (Jennifer Ehle) looks as if she has seen
a ghost, and escapes into the house. Having "The Russell Girl" home for
the summer wrecks havoc on her nerves, and Lorainne withdraws further
into her shell.
Even though her family and friends encourage her to forget what happened
so long ago and forgive herself, Sarah cannot get over the desire to
make things right with the Morriseys if she can. What she brings to the
surface are wounded feelings, general resentment, and self-loathing for
an unpreventable accident that threatens to destroy one family and put
her into an early grave. The story is ultimately one of redemption and
forgiveness, wrapped up in a surprisingly moving and sad package that
forces audiences to wonder what they might have done in similar
circumstances. I don't think there is a parent alive who has not feared
something like this. It has been twelve years since Jennifer Ehle made a
dramatic appearance on American television, when A&E first broadcasted
its magnificent six hour production of Pride & Prejudice, but
Ehle's character here is as far from Elizabeth Bennett as anyone could
ever get -- an angry, embittered woman striving to forgive herself and
everyone involved, mainly Sarah.
She is such a complicated woman that we struggle to understand her, for one
moment she is fine, compassionate, caring, and the next the wall closes in
around her heart and isolates her from her husband again. Tamblyn, better
known for the similarly moving Joan of Arcadia, is wonderful as a
girl torn between guilt and an eerie sense of poetic justice, since she
believes she is being punished for her mistakes. True, the story is in some
ways predictable but we crave redemption and hope so much that we don't mind
its lesser moments of originality. It is not all broken memories, either, as
Sarah's return to town has also sparked the interest of her high school
sweetheart, Evan (Paul Wesley). Ben Lewis also puts in a memorable
performance as Lorainne's long-suffering but ever-loving husband, Jon. Most
of the content is thematic -- dealing with leukemia causes Sarah to be
physically sick on several occasions, and there is the grief of parents who
have lost a child. Sarah is almost in a car accident; it's implied someone
has fallen down the stairs. There is no language or sexual content; Evan and
Sarah share a very tender and innocent relationship.
There is no specific mention of Christianity (both families do
apparently attend church) but its messages are Christian in their
themes, ranging from Jon's determination to love and protect his wife to
Sarah learning that she must trust and confide in her family. It is not
something you would want to watch every weekend, because there are
beautifully poignant moments that should not be overly indulged in at
the risk of bringing on melancholy, but The Russell Girl is a
suitable addition to Hallmark's generous collection of family-oriented
material, and can and should be enjoyed by anyone old enough to
appreciate its themes of redemption.
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