TNT’s ‘Thicker Than Blood’ Is Mostly From Old School

The new TNT film “Thicker Than Blood” is a bit of a posthumous reunion for the crowd from “Nothing Sacred,” ABC’s recently deceased series about an unconventional Catholic priest.

“Nothing Sacred” co-creator Bill Cain adapted “Thicker Than Blood” from his play, “Stand Up Tragedy.” Richard Manson, executive producer for the series, carries the same credit on the film, which is directed by Richard Pearce, who also guided the controversial “Nothing Sacred” pilot.

Unfortunately, there is nothing much sacred about “Thicker Than Blood,” a serious film with lots or urban texture, but one whose teacher protagonist is cut from the familiar cloth of a slew of other classroom heroes, from Glenn Ford in “Blackboard Jungle” to Michelle Pfeiffer in “Dangerous Minds.”

Dan Futterman is fine as Griffin Byrne, an Ivy League grad who delays his entry into law school to spend a year teaching at an urban mission school. Among Byrne’s students is a talented artist (Carlo Alban) from a troubled home, whose redemption from ghetto hopelessness Byrne makes his personal crusade. But his caring, personal approach is challenged by the school’s prickly headmaster, a droning priest played by Mickey Rourke, as “Thicker Than Blood” seeps ever so slowly toward its formulaic conclusion.

*

* “Thicker Than Blood” can be seen at 5, 7 and 9 p.m. Sunday on TNT. The network has rated it TV-14-L (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14, with an advisory for coarse language).