Word: laurelled
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...SHOW: LAUREL AVENUE...
...disappeared from prime time, and the few recent offerings have been too distracted by other matters -- skewering small-town life in Picket Fences; cheerleading for the rights of autistic children in Life Goes On -- to pay much attention to the way families really interrelate. In this context, Laurel Avenue, an HBO mini-series airing in two 90-minute segments this month, is almost a breakthrough...
Superbly acted by a cast of nonstars and tautly directed by Carl Franklin (One False Move), Laurel Avenue is honest but not exploitative, affirmative without sappy TV "uplift." The basketball star, after a stormy date with the Arnetts' teenage daughter, suddenly draws a gun and points it at his own head. "I blew it," he cries, then wearily puts the pistol down. (No easy violence here.) The troubled single mother, after being abused by her ex- boyfriend, is so depressed that she can't face a job interview. "You can do anything you want to do," her father urges...
...film's deepest friendship is between Margaret and the frail Ruth Wilcox (Vanessa Redgrave). In a lovely scene, Ruth summons her ebbing strength to secure a sprig in Margaret's hair. It is also a laurel from Redgrave, the great actress of her generation, to Thompson, the next generation's Most Likely to Succeed...
Will gutsy feminist Tasha fall for politically incorrect Phillip's conservative charms? Will ambitious Laurel resort to dirty tactics in the race for president of the Harvard Junior Business Leaders...