The ‘Sea People’ Get Along Swimmingly

Television earns its bad rap for junking up the airwaves, but that’s not the whole picture. Genuine, uplifting entertainment is part of the mix too, and Showtime’s gentle fantasy film “Sea People,” airing Sunday, is proof.

Infused with a touch of magic, the sensitive script by Chris Hawthorne, Wendy Biller and Patrick Whitley is about a young swimmer who lives in a Nova Scotia coastal town and gets to know a mysterious elderly couple who eat seaweed and sleep in tanks of icy seawater.

The splendid Hume Cronyn, spending more time submerged than he did in “Cocoon” and seemingly relishing it, and luminous Joan Gregson portray John and Bridget McCrae, a pair of unlikely mermaids--or as they prefer to be called, “sea people.”

At first fearing that the couple intend to put a spell on her and lure her into the sea, teenage Amanda (Tegan Moss), who dreams of one day swimming the English Channel, finds that while her new friends may not be “your average old duffers,” as Bridget puts it, they are increasingly dear. When John’s age and the warming of the sea take their toll on his health, Amanda seeks a way to help. Enlisting the aid of her young fisherman friend Peter (Shawn Roberts), whose grandfather was rumored to have had his own mermaid encounter in years past, Amanda’s solution involves an unusual reunion and an unforeseen farewell.

It’s impossible to see Cronyn and not think of his late wife and frequent acting partner, the regal Jessica Tandy, but Gregson’s quiet strength and soft glow complement Cronyn’s commanding presence. Although this is the kind of part Cronyn could have coasted through, he didn’t; the film would be stuck in the shallows without the integrity of his and Gregson’s performances, and without director Vic Sarin’s care and sure hand.

Moss measures up too. She seems to mature along with her character; she has some especially fine moments opposite Cronyn.

As the McCraes’ secret and touchingly human life unfolds, Amanda experiences love and giving, bittersweet goodbyes and loss, and in the end, opens up to, yes, a sea of possibilities.

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* “Sea People” airs Sunday at 9 p.m. on Showtime, with repeats through June and July. The network has rated it TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children.)