Rating: NR
Genre:
Drama
Release Date: 07/12/2005
SubTitles: English/Espanol
Dubbed: English/Espanol
Sound: DD2
Run Time: 89 min
Distributor/Studio: Warner Home Video
Debra Winger made a rare television appearance in this emotional made-for-cable
drama, based on a true story.
Dawn Anna Townsend (
Winger) is a single mother who has made the most of a sometimes difficult life -- despite raising four children alone on a teacher's salary, she loves her family, enjoys her work, and finds time to coach the school's volleyball team as well as start a new romance. However,
Dawn Anna is handed an even greater challenge when she's diagnosed with a brain tumor; while surgery saves her life, she can no longer speak or walk, and must learn to do these things all over again. With the help of her loved ones,
Dawn Anna bucks the odds and teaches herself to lead a normal life again, but another tragedy is waiting for her around the corner.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Debra Winger has been AWOL from the Hollywood mainstream for so long that any appearance marks a cause for celebration. But this Lifetime TV movie proves an uneven comeback vehicle for the onetime Oscar nominee. For three-fourths of its running time,
Dawn Anna plays as a heartwarming, motivational
drama about a single mother who overcomes economic obstacles and a rare brain condition to emerge as a fantastic parent, teacher, and coach. The script, co-written by director
Arliss Howard, does suffer from a tendency toward sentimentality. But the grit, intelligence, and self-deprecating wit of
Winger's performance keep her character from becoming a one-note saint -- and the film from becoming an uplifting bore. Things take a sharp left turn, however, when we find out why
Howard became fodder for a
biopic in the first place -- her involvement in the 1999 massacre at Colorado's Columbine High School. Whereas other, fictionalized treatments of Columbine focus on the massacre itself,
Dawn Anna succeeds in involving the audience deeply in the lives of its characters before unleashing a national tragedy on them. Unfortunately, once the tragedy comes, the script resorts to uplifting clichés that overshadow the more authentic emotions of the first two acts.
~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
