TV Review : Stirring Up Memories in ‘Garden’

To legions of fans, Mary Tyler Moore will always be Mary Richards and Laura Petrie, no matter how hard she tries to separate herself from those beloved icons of TV yore and Nick at Nite. And she does try.

In her latest role, Moore is barely recognizable as a tormented adult with the mind of a child in Sunday’s Family Channel movie, “Stolen Memories: Secrets From the Rose Garden.”

Moore’s willingness to submerge identity and glamour is admirable. Indeed, her slack-jawed, scuttling portrayal is determinedly self-effacing and almost shocking. But neither she nor co-stars Linda Lavin, Shirley Knight and Paul Winfield are well-served by this unexceptional film filled with cliched scenes and one-dimensional characters.

Set up as a young boy’s look back at a memorable summer visit in 1956 with his three Southern great-aunts, the film revolves around Jessie (Moore), the youngest aunt, traumatized as a child by some unknown, violent tragedy.

Nathan Watt, who narrates and plays 12-year-old Freddie, becomes Jessie’s pal and protector, but his visit stirs Jessie’s long-repressed memory, upsetting older sister Earline (Lavin), who feels guilt over her sister’s condition, and threatening a murderer who thought his secret was safe.

Written by Tim Cagney and directed by Bob Clark, the film’s emphasis on the compassion between the young boy and the childlike aunt, reminiscent of Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory,” is its strength.

Its major flaw is a weakness for the obvious--eerie vocal music, horror-movie-style, in the cemetery, obligatory young bullies who persecute Freddie, early giveaway close-ups of the creepy, racist bad guy, lots of slo-mo flashbacks and the good cop/bad cop aunts (Knight and Lavin).

Winfield fares a little better with an effective screen presence that transcends his one-note role as a loyal “Driving Miss Daisy,” Mr. Fix-It family friend.