Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story

Plot

Based on the book of the same name by Gwenda Blair, this made-for-cable drama chronicles the life and premature death of NBC anchorwoman Jessica Savitch. Sela Ward was nominated for an Emmy award for her portrayal of Savitch, the ambitious 1980s TV phenomenon, who rose to fame quickly despite her erratic and often out-of-control personal life. It took an on-air incident to bring down the facade hiding her drug and alcohol abuse -- -- and a mysterious car accident to end her life at age 36. Director Peter Werner and the film's producers were also nominated for Emmy awards that year, and Ward received a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Female Actor. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi

Review

Exactly one thing elevates this telepic above its movie-of-the-week brethren, and that's the performance of Sela Ward as drugged-out '80s news anchor Jessica Savitch. Although she invests her role with a ferocity rarely found in such by-the-numbers biopics, Ward also resists the urge to chew scenery. It's a delicate juggling act -- one unfortunately not matched by Linda Bergman's script. In adapting Gwenda Blair's book Almost Golden: Jessica Savitch and the Selling of Television News, Bergman jettisons the source material's focus on the history and politics of network journalism. The result is a script that hits all of the expected notes, compressing events into familiar arcs and treating the TV news business like any other showbiz milieu. It's probably too much to expect a standard-issue TV movie to break the mold, but it's interesting to ponder what a cable network might have done with the same material. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Cast

Jeffrey DeMunn - Mel; Judith Ivey - Laura; Sela Ward - Jessica Savitch; Ron Silver - Ron

Credit

Gwenda Blair - Book Author

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