‘Sister’s Keeper’ Has Its Own Mind

With “A Beautiful Mind” garnering so much acclaim for its portrayal of mental illness, it might be easy to overlook “My Sister’s Keeper” as more of the same. But that would be a mistake.

This Hallmark Hall of Fame production (Sunday at 9 p.m., CBS) tells the true story of Christine (Kathy Bates) and Judy (Elizabeth Perkins), sisters whose journey of discovery and reconciliation has the feel of quirky realism, not schmaltz.

Christine was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a child and now manic depression; Judy has fled their hometown to New York City, burying herself in work at an art magazine and avoiding relationships--with her big sister and otherwise.

When their mother (Lynn Redgrave) dies, they struggle with conflicting emotions: Christine needs her sister’s love and care more than ever but resents interference in her life, while the guilt-ridden Judy longs for a renewed bond as well but fears an overwhelming relationship. Judy also finally has her eye on Harvey (Clark Gregg), the smoothie who works down the hall.

Bates conveys the pain and unpredictable rhythms of Christine’s bipolar condition, but also a tender dignity, such as when she softly sings “Sweet and Low” to her ailing mom or leads a neighbor boy in a doo-wop duet of “Duke of Earl.” Perkins is also at her best as the tightly wound Felix-type in this sibling odd couple, and so is a chilly Redgrave as a source of Judy’s guilt (“I want you to be free,” she tells her. “One of us should have a life”).

Directed by Ron Lagomarsino from a script by Susan Tarr (based on Margaret Moorman’s memoir), this film explores the “beautiful mind” of an ordinary person rather than a genius, and the redemptive love of a sibling rather than a spouse. But it’s no less compelling.