Some of the original power of Marsha Norman's Broadway play has been lost in the transition to the small screen, but this is still an engrossing slice of life on the wrong side of the tracks. Rebecca DeMornay emotes creditably as ex-con Arlene who, after eight years inside, finds that she is not allowed to see the son who was taken away from her in jail and put up for adoption by her mother (Ellen Burstyn). Director John Korty keeps it all fairly low key, but that only adds to our appreciation of Arlene's plight as she struggles with her past to regain her child.

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