Hayek has a directing hand in her first TV ‘Miracle’

“The Maldonado Miracle” is the directing debut of Salma Hayek, an actress sometimes distractingly disguised as a sex symbol, and if it does not announce the arrival of a major new voice in American filmmaking, it heralds something perhaps just as valuable: an artist who can work humble ingredients into a subtle and satisfying repast.

A small, unshowy and lovely comedy about a dying community turned upside down when blood mysteriously appears on a statue of Jesus, it tells its story with graceful economy, and the sureness of Hayek’s direction and the casual depth of the acting allows one to overlook the occasional logical glitch or tonal lapse.

Based on a 3-decade-old young-adult novel by Theodore Taylor, “The Maldonado Miracle” (premiering Sunday at 8 p.m. on Showtime) comes packaged as a Showtime Original Picture for All Ages; in this case, “all ages” means the source material has been retooled into something more suitable for adults, although there’s still a boy and his dog for small-fry identification. The screenplay, by Paul W. Cooper -- who has a lot of family-friendly credits to his name, including episodes of “Little House on the Prairie” and “Highway to Heaven” and several ABC Afterschool Specials -- adapts and elaborates extravagantly upon Taylor’s novel, shifting the focus from Jose Maldonado (Eddy Martin), an 11-year-old illegal immigrant whose blood may be the blood on the statue, and onto the inhabitants of the withering San Ramos.

When news of the apparent miracle gets around, a circus ensues; hysteria, in its religious, media and commercial varieties, gets a humorous going-over. But the film stays focused on the locals, who regard one another with a blend of over-familiarity and self-protection. One of its points is that, in the words of Ruben Blades’ lovesick barkeep, “It’s funny how you can know someone for a long time, see them every day, but not really see them.” Not every character here has a secret, as Blades’ does, but most have two sides, which is a side more than you usually get from a TV movie.

Hayek gets good work out of a large and uniformly excellent cast. The relative star power is provided by Blades; Peter Fonda, as the skeptical parish priest; and Mare Winningham -- as well used here as she is ungainfully employed on “The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H.” -- as the proprietress of the local greasy spoon. (She plays a drunk scene with a turtle that sets a new standard for drunk scenes, with or without turtles.) The picture covers a lot of ground in a little time without ever seeming hurried: Blades shifting into a flat American accent as he pronounces the words “correctional facility”; town layabout Bill Sage sitting straight in his booth when the priest comes into the diner; Winningham curtsying to Martin; the quizzical look that washes across the face of Soledad St. Hilaire when she first sees blood on the statue.

The film adds a coda not found in the book, a disappointingly predictable, supernatural twist that in some ways negates the meaning of what’s come before. It feels like a sop to the imagined audience, a bid to please all (in the approved Hollywood manner). But it is just the last few minutes, and there is every chance you may be the very person those minutes were created for. In any case, they don’t cancel out the many pleasures that precede them.

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‘The Maldonado Miracle’

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Where: Showtime

When: Sunday, 8-10 p.m.

Rating: The network has rated the movie TV-PGV (may not be suitable for young children, with an advisory for violence).

Peter Fonda...Father Russell

Mare Winningham...Maisie

Ruben Blades...Cruz

Eddy Martin...Jose Maldonado

Bill Sage...Lyle

Executive producer, director, Salma Hayek. Writer, Paul W. Cooper, based on the novel by Theodore Taylor.