TV REVIEW : An Impressive Baxter Birney Tells Tale of Institutionalized ‘Winnie’

Meredith Baxter Birney breaks out of her cool suburban image tonight in “Winnie” (Channels 4, 36 and 39 at 9 p.m.). She plays a moderately retarded woman who has been institutionalized for 30 years.

It’s an impressive transformation of this underrated actress. Her chin takes on a dozen new creases, her voice is high-pitched until it almost grates, her stance is more jagged than usual. Yet she doesn’t make Winnie a freak or a pitiful victim; she helps us see her resilience as a sign of mental health.

In fact, Winnie--whose story is based on that of Gwynna Sprockett, as written in book form by Jamie Pastor Bolnick--is almost too happy and healthy for the sake of Joyce Eliason’s screenplay.

Sure, Winnie has her problems, such as the illness of her beloved sister (Lee Garlington) and the importunings of insensitive or antagonistic “normal” people inside and outside the institution. But she bounces back with such alacrity that we begin to assume, fairly early in the film, that she’s virtually unsinkable. And with this assumption, the movie becomes more of an inspirational tract and less of an engaging story.

The story does end on a somewhat unexpected but wholly benign note. Winnie opts to stay near her loving boyfriend (David Morse) and mother substitute (Barbara Barrie)--in the security of her institution, which has finally purged the one nurse (Angela Paton) who had made trouble for her. It’s all very nice, but it isn’t very gripping.

John Korty directed for executive producer Michael Manheim and producer Andrea Baynes.