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.