Christopher Reeve (1952-2004) was an actor best known for his starring roles in the Superman movies and the tragic horse riding accident in 1995 that left him quadriplegic for the rest of his life. Besides acting, he also did some directing, notably The Brooke Ellison Story, a TV movie based on the life of a real person of the same name.
The story begins at around 1990 when the Ellisons, a suburban family of five, receive sad news about their young daughter Brooke (Vanessa Marano as a kid; Lacey Chabert as a young adult): she has been severely injured after being hit by a car. It soon becomes clear that she will remain paralyzed from neck down and need a breathing apparatus for the rest of her life. The resilient Brooke is not someone to give up easily though and insists on continuing her schoolwork, eventually graduating from high school and entering a prestigious college, all the while being assisted by her loving mother Jean (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) and supported by her father Ed (John Slattery), as well as her siblings Kysten and Reed (played by Jenson Goins and Devon Gearhart as kids; Lauren Barrett and Ryan Hudson as young adults).
As can be guessed, a lot of crying and sentimental music is to be expected, like in any inspirational story of this type. It is easy to imagine this having been a very personal project for Reeve who died before the film was aired, but unfortunately it doesn't try to provide anything very impressive or to expand the boundaries of the "inspirational biopic" genre. Brooke herself is portrayed as so perfect and eager to keep living that it is difficult to see any real tragedy about her; it is well known that human flaws are what make people and fictional characters fascinating, but sadly Brooke seems to have very few of them. Likewise, the other most interesting aspects of the story are barely hinted at: the frustration of Brooke and her self-sacrificing mother, the stress on the parents' marriage, the budding depression of the big sister Kysten... There would have been potential for decent drama, but perhaps the insistence to make Brooke's story a positive example prevented the writers from handling the darker details in a worthwhile way.
The overflowing positivity and inspirational message are probably best suited for viewers who are parents themselves and thus extra-sensitive to tragedies involving children. Anyone looking for decent dramatic writing is most likely going to be disappointed, but I guess this type of movies have their own devoted audience as well. The Brooke Ellison Story doesn't bring anything unexpected to the table, but if that is a good thing to you, you may well end up liking it.
