Christopher Reeve’s last work was a made-for-TV movie, The Brooke Ellison Story, to be shown tonight on A&E. Miss Ellison was hit by a car and left paralyzed from the neck down at the age of 11. Even so, she graduated from Harvard College in 2000. As reviewer Alessandra Stanley states,
The film…manages to be moving, not maudlin, truthful but still well told. It makes Mr. Reeves’s point better than all the mournful eulogies: with help, severely handicapped people can continue to live, love and work as well as or better than their more fortunate peers.
From the review, it sounds like better than most TV fare, and a tribute from (and to) Christopher Reeve.
NewMexiKen watched the film and agrees with the review. It’s a touching portrayal.
I watched it as well. I thought it was very well done and can imagine that someone in Christopher Reeve’s situation was the best person to direct it. Only a person who had been through that could share the experience using the right tone. Not too sappy, not too sad, but also truthful.
Ms. Ellison and her mother are pretty amazing women.