This TV movie about a quadriplegic who overcomes great obstacles to go on to college could be easily dismissed as just another cripple-of-the-week filler, even though it is based on a real person and true events. Two things keep that from happening: the extraordinary performance of Lacy Chabert as the quadriplegic, and the story's straightforward presentation, sometimes painful in its telling but never stooping to the saccharine (all credit is due here to the director, the late Chris Reeve, himself a quadriplegic). You would have to be made of stone not to feel tugged and ultimately uplifted by this story. A very young actress at the time this was made, Chabert is simply amazing as the protagonist and your heart will break for her as she struggles with an active, genius-level brain trapped in a ruined body. What a movie. It should be shown to every high school student. Hell, it should be shown to every family.
Review of The Brooke Ellison Story
