Despite a challenging plot in which a teenager battles with leukaemia, this soapy American drama dissolves into cliché. In order to survive, Cassie needs a bone marrow transplant, and her stepbrother Willy is her best hope. However, Mary Ellen doesn't want her son to endure what could be a dangerous operation, and so she forbids him from being tested as a potential donor. Can her marriage to Cassie's father survive the strain? Strangely, given that our strongest sympathies should lie with poor Cassie, the film focuses more on Mary Ellen and Richard's marital difficulties. There are some decent performances, notably from talented youngsters Joseph Mazzello and Reese Witherspoon, but what could have been a potentially powerful drama turns out to be standard TV movie fodder.

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