Hallmark Hall of Fame movies generally are drenched in melancholy. "The Russell Girl" serves up a double helping.
The film opens with the heroine being floored by the diagnosis that she is afflicted with a potentially fatal disease. Then the movie proceeds to depart from this story line almost entirely to delve into another tragic situation, from six years earlier, that has colored the woman's life and explains the title.
The saga of forgiveness and reconciliation is tearjerker overkill, even by Hallmark standards. However, it's somewhat saved by Amber Tamblyn's stellar performance in the title role and a strong supporting turn by Jennifer Ehle. The potential Tamblyn showed in "Joan of Arcadia" has been fully realized. Her role as Sarah Russell is a demanding one, calling on her to dominate most scenes. She is unfailingly up to it.
Sarah is building a career as a fashion buyer in Chicago when she is found to be suffering from an aggressive form of leukemia. She heads back to her small hometown to tell the folks, but they misinterpret the reason for her visit to the extent that they plan a celebration.
A homecoming wouldn't be cause for Sarah to feel celebratory under the best of circumstances, since it rekindles memories of the worst day of her life. The colder-than-an-Illinois-January reception she gets from a neighbor, Lorraine Morrissey (Ehle), exacerbates the situation. It would be a spoiler to disclose the reason for the tension between the two, but the basics of it become obvious long before it is spelled out in detail.
Not even an entirely superfluous secondary story about the rekindling of a high school romance bucks up Sarah's mood.
Lorraine has become a head case, or headache case, the excuse she falls back on whenever she feels like withdrawing from social and family events. Her only sanctuary from depression is the garage studio in which she restores antiques, a sideline that well serves her desire to segregate herself from the world.
Through all the contretemps between neighbors, Sarah's affliction, which should be the focus, becomes a background issue. Indeed, it almost seems that the sole reason it was introduced was to serve as the catalyst for her trip home. She keeps even her parents in the dark about her plight.
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Tim DeKay are relatively minor characters as Sarah's folks, Gayle and Phil. Henry Czerny is more integral to the story as Lorraine's spouse, Howard, who appreciates that he is an enabler of his wife's withdrawal but takes the path of least resistance. Paul Wesley is a nonfactor as Evan, an old flame who tries to pick up with Sarah where theyleft off.
Apparently, two resolutions are one too many for this film, as it ends leaving a crucial question only beginning to be addressed. If not for Tamblyn, there would be little to recommend "The Russell Girl," even in a rerun-dominated strike environment.
