TV Reviews : ‘I Love You Perfect,’ Cancer Drama, Perfectly Sappy

The executive producers of the TV movie “I Love You Perfect,” airing Sunday at 9 p.m. on Channels 7, 3, 10 and 42, have been quoted as saying that it’s “not just another ‘cancer sto” It’s meant to be the true story of great love in the face of great tragedy.

What it is, from minute one, is a paperback romance with sappy music and commercials.

Susan Dey (of NBC’s “L.A. Law”) and Anthony John Denison (CBS’ “Wiseguy”) are star-crossed lovers Christina Taylor and Alan Matthews. He’s a bartender; she’s a free spirit who wants to be a chef. She’s soulful and impetuous, with little girl enthusiasms; he’s silent and brooding.

Dey, with considerable resources, gives it her all, but can’t overcome Dalene Young’s sticky script or the way Denison comes across. He seems petulant and morose, with a hint of too many nights spent in a singles bar. It’s uphill work trying to figure out why Christina is so beatifically smitten.

Sample dialogue: “Who are you mad at, Alan . . . me or you?” . . . “It’s not love Chrissie. It’s crazy” . . . “I got high marks in college, but I flunked relationships.”

Despite pretty camera work, viewers have to slog through a big puddle of bathos to get the message here. This is a cancer story and it has important information for women. The real Christina was never informed that for two years her Pap tests were abnormal.

When she was diagnosed as having cervical cancer, it was too late. Apparently determined to save other women, she took her medical clinic to court, winning a multimillion-dollar settlement that made headlines.