In Rutland, Vermont, Jason needs a liver transplant. His obnoxious sister Marie is jealous of the attention he receives, but she's basically a good person. The kids' mother Christy is a doctor, and their father Dan is a paramedic.
Marie wants to go rock climbing with her friends but her overprotective mom says no (this is understandable considering Jason's need for a new liver is the result of a rock-climbing accident). Jason, a talented magician, wants to go to Pete Crane's car dealership to entertain the kids while their parents bid on cars at an auction. His parents worry about him trying to do too much, but his father secretly lets him go, provided his sister watches him. Marie reluctantly agrees, but when she drops Jason off, she goes to be with her friends.
A liver is found for Jason, but his mother can't find him to tell him. And the plane carrying the liver crashes in a storm. Can the liver be located? Can it be brought to the hospital in time? Can Jason be found? All sorts of complications get in the way, including the new hospital administrator Karen. She considers following procedures to the letter to be the more important than patient care. She insists that any uninsured patient be shipped off to the nearest hospital that will take people who can't pay.
All of this makes for an entertaining and exciting TV-movie, the sort of thing CBS showed nearly every Sunday until a few years ago. I really liked this family, and if this had been turned into a TV series, I would have watched it.
Oh, one more detail. The plane crashed because a storm system that created the worst hailstorm in U. S. history. The hailstones were the largest on record. And, of course, the hail shows up where needed without warning and disappears just as quickly. If needed, the hail shows up in the same place again, even if it's a few hours later, just to make sure the film remains exciting.
And with that added information, the movie becomes a ridiculous mess. Even Marie expresses frustration with the plot's silliness (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but that sure seems like what happened).
It is true that most of the movie's inspiring moments required some sort of catastrophe, including the best acting the film has to offer--some great scenes involving Stacy Keach as the once-cantankerous car dealer and Myles Jeffrey as the courageous and likable Jason. They are forced together by ... you guessed it.
The other actors playing the family members do a capable job. Good enough for TV, anyway. Nicole Paggi is adorable, and her character shows a lot of determination, forced to take charge by ... more consequences of this bizarre storm. She even gets to be funny a couple of times, although I don't know whether comedy would be appropriate in the situations. I don't care--I liked it. Oh, and no matter what she goes through, her pretty face and hair remain perfect.
Linda Purl is inspiring as the idealistic doctor (though after a while her hair does look like she's been through a crisis, which is realistic), but I will have to start listing some real problems. Keith Robinson has some fine moments as a cameraman who thought he was covering a fluff story but finally gets a chance to cover some real news. Colleen Porch as his journalist partner, however, is quite terrible. And what can I say about Ann White as the by-the-book administrator? Wanting to send people out into that dangerous storm? Her makeup looked great. Dr. Lilith Sternin-Crane herself couldn't have looked more in need of a tan.
Also, Kenneth Kimmins does a good job as the ambulance dispatcher--he believes this storm deserves a name, like hurricanes have, so he calls it "Medusa".
Now, about the negatives. I've mentioned some already, but they weren't related to this movie's apparent attempt to capitalize on the "storm of the century" craze. Oh, wait. This came before "10.5" and "Category 6". Regardless, there's no way hail could cause this much damage. The visual effects make it all too obvious models are being used. Especially the way one house is destroyed. It looks like it's being crushed with a big blue hammer in front of a blue screen. Oh, don't forget to add flames!
If that's not enough, the reaction of the townspeople is even stranger. What happened? Where are they? Did they all leave? No, some are still at the hospital. But no one seems to be acting like it's the "storm of the century". And as exhausted as Christy gets, it isn't exactly "M*A*S*H" or "ER". And where are the emergency vehicles? Don't disasters result in calling in fire trucks and ambulances from all over? And in every other hailstorm on record, wasn't there at least some rain? Or lightning? I'm sure weather and science experts would have plenty to attack here.
As a story of the courageous attempt to save a boy's life, this movie is quite good. As a disaster movie, it's a disaster.
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