Uneven ‘Journey’ Follows Course of Determined Mom

“Journey of the Heart,” a TV movie airing on CBS Sunday, bears some similarities to the theatrical motion picture “Shine.” Both are about parents who aggressively involve themselves with their children’s musical talents.

The similarities, however, are only superficial. Janice, the parent in “Journey of the Heart” is, like Peter Helfgott, the parent in “Shine,” determined to push her son to the maximum expression of his pianistic skills. But Janice’s son, Tony, unlike David Helfgott, the central character in “Shine,” is blind and diagnosed as autistic and a musical savant.

And the thrust of the uneven, only intermittently compelling story is Janice’s long, resolute effort to provide him with an education and an environment that will take him past his disabilities.

Fighting for every break, struggling to stay afloat financially, she moves from Texas to Boston to place Tony in a highly regarded school for the blind. Refusing to accept rejection after rejection, she finally manages to give her son the opportunity to fully express his talents.

Along the way, Janice changes from a plain but feisty Texas woman to a carefully coiffed, well-dressed Boston housewife. Playing the role to the hilt, even finding a spot to do a bit of singing, Cybill Shepherd imparts Janice with her familiar effusiveness. But, typically, she too often pulls the character into her own orbit rather than attempting to find its own essential qualities.

The real drama in this slow-moving film, which was inspired by actual events, is generated by Tony’s growth to maturity. The portrayal by Chris Demetral invests Tony with a rich, multilayered complexity that brings sensitive believability to scenes that are frequently at risk of being taken over the top by Shepherd.

In supporting roles, Blake Heron is excellent as younger brother Ray; Cassidy Rae brings sensitivity to the part of Tony’s girlfriend, Julia; and Stephen Lang manages to find some intriguing qualities in the one-dimensional part of Thomas DeBlois.

The score by Roger Kellaway is an intrinsic and important part of the picture, and--with the exception of an overly florid climactic number--it works beautifully.

* “Journey of the Heart” airs 9-11 p.m. Sunday on CBS (Channel 2).