A Mix of Southern Charm and Mystery

In CBS’ “To Dance With Olivia,” Olivia Stewart spends her days and nights locked in an upstairs bedroom. Distraught over the death of her young son, Danny, she feels incapable of returning to the idyllic life she once shared with her loving family.

The circumstances surrounding Danny’s demise are initially shrouded in mystery as neither Olivia (Lonette McKee) nor husband Daniel (Louis Gossett Jr.) choose to speak of the painful tragedy in direct terms. But as this intimate made-for-TV movie progresses, an intricate and touching story evolves.

Daniel Stewart is a successful African American lawyer in a small town in Missouri. The family lives comfortably in a spacious house and appears to have the respect of the white and black communities.

Nevertheless, the year is 1961 and even a gifted black attorney faces an uphill struggle when it comes to attaining true political clout. Wanting to improve his own life as well as the position of the rural black farmer, Daniel aligns himself with congressman Horace Henley (Joe Don Baker). Eventually, it is revealed that it was this association that had led to the accidental shooting death of Danny. Once a more upstanding figure, Henley has become increasingly corrupted by power and is saddled by one particularly debilitating personal problem.

“To Dance With Olivia” has a touch of the homespun Southern charm and social bite of the 1962 film version of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Similar to Harper Lee’s classic story, “Olivia” finds Daniel defending an innocent black man, a farmer who has been accused of inadvertently killing Henley’s young son, Oscar.

During the course of the film, the Stewarts are forced to deal with their own muddled feelings of sadness, anger and responsibility. Daniel is perhaps too noble to be fully believed. He’s almost saintly as he patiently endures his wife’s occasionally sullen belligerence. And his relationship with his 21-year-old daughter, Camille (Kathryne Dora Brown), is overly sentimental.

Yet, in the end, it’s hard not to be moved by Gossett’s poignant depiction of a man searching for the morally correct path. McKee is also praiseworthy in a multifaceted performance. The radiance she conveys in the happier flashback sequences offers a strong counterpoint to the shattered spirit that defines her character in the present.

Part human drama and part unfolding mystery, “To Dance With Olivia” is two hours well spent.

* “To Dance With Olivia” airs on CBS Sunday night at 9.