In ‘Time,’ Illnesses Heal a Wound

The “disease of the week” genre has been a TV staple for decades, to the point where viewers who have been burned once too often have become immune to even the slickest of promotional campaigns.

But don’t let the afflictions of the past lead you to cast a jaundiced eye toward Sunday’s little gem of a movie “Two Against Time” (CBS, 9 p.m.). Director David Anspaugh and co-stars Marlo Thomas and Ellen Muth turn what might have been a routine emotional button-pusher into an achingly beautiful story of a mother and daughter’s struggle for survival.

Anspaugh has distinguished himself previously in a pair of sports-related theatrical releases, “Hoosiers” (1983) and “Rudy” (1993), and he uses the against-all-odds themes learned there to wrenching effect in this film, which, like the other two, is based on a true story. Thomas is exceptional as Julie Portman, a divorced mom whose strained relationship with her rebellious daughter, Emma (Muth), seems to be the biggest problem in her life. Not for long, and not by a long shot.

What first appears to be just a sore elbow for Emma is diagnosed as a cancer that attacks muscle tissue. The grueling treatment regimen that follows puts the roles of mother and daughter in a new light, helping bring them together even as the disease threatens to tear them apart--forever.

But there’s another shoe that’s about to drop, and it comes with a thud that shakes both mother and daughter to their core. Julie is diagnosed with breast cancer, and her plight suddenly puts an ominous new spin on the pair’s caregiver-patient arrangement.

Along the way, Anspaugh shows uncommon craft in building several pivotal scenes that lend strength and nuance to the movie, and David Shire’s music is a marvel of restrained elegance.

And in the end, “Two Against Time” shows just how precious that time can be.