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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us October 15, 2005 In Review | Warm Springs by Tidings reviewer Chris Honoré A well-crafted tale of a president’s crucible There is a great deal to say about the very fine HBO film, “Warm Springs.” Not the least being that it was nominated for 16 Emmys and won five, including Best Made For Television Movie. Warm Springs Starring Kenneth Branagh, Cynthia Nixon, Tim Blake Nelson, Jane Alexander and Kathy Bates Directed by Joseph Sargent HBO Films-not rated Available for rental or purchase In other words, “Warm Springs” was and is a hit. And rightly so, for it’s a richly told and well-acted movie that focuses on a little-known crossroads moment in the life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt — one that changed his life in so many remarkable ways. The film opens with Roosevelt (Kenneth Branagh), brimming with good health, cavalierly striding through life. The arc of his political career is ascending. He has a wonderful family, abundant wealth and the love of his wife Eleanor (Cynthia Nixon). And one can’t forget a vast circle of friends and a mistress. Then one warm afternoon, after playing with his children, he is stricken, falls seriously ill and discovers that he has contracted Infantile Paralysis. He is paralyzed from the waist down. It is a stunning blow — there is no cure and little hope for a recovery. Looking ahead, he sees only a future of struggling with flaccid limbs requiring a crippling effort just to move a short distance. It is a wall of adversity that few can imagine. Many believed that those who contracted the disease remained contagious long after they recovered from the initial symptoms. Others were certain that it affected the mind as well as the body. For Roosevelt, it proved profoundly debilitating, not only to his body but to his spirit, his life suddenly unrecognizable, to others as well as himself. And so begins what will be the journey of Franklin Roosevelt, not as an upright, spring-in-his-step young man of 39, but as a man who must depend on others to aid him in his every move. The year is 1921, well before he became governor of New York and then president of the United States. As the movie so dramatically shows, Roosevelt descends into a dark depression, one from which there seemes no likely exit. His life is defined by a sense of desperation, torment, his days bleak. For a time he lived alone, apart from his family, on a boat in Florida, being tended to by two hired men. Then, unexpectedly, desperate to walk again and summoning the last vestiges of hope, he travels to a place called Warm Springs, Ga., where it has been rumored a paralytic young boy learned to walk again due to the healing properties of the warm mineral waters. “Warm Springs” is about Roosevelt’s time spent living in this back-woods, run-down health spa. And, as the movie so compelling demonstrates, Warm Springs proves to be a turning point in his life, the crucible in which he is tested. It becomes a place where he must finally come to terms with who is he is as a person and face the devastating reality that he will never walk again. At least not without his legs being scaffolded by iron and leather and someone at his side. He rages, he denies, and finally accepts that his life, such as it was, will never be again. This creates a dramatic tension in the movie that is deeply evocative. As well, the ensemble of actors is simply exceptional. Kenneth Branagh, Cynthia Nixon, Kathy Bates and Jane Alexander were all nominated for Emmys in the acting categories, with Alexander winning for Best Supporting Actress in a Mini-Series or Movie. They infuse the characters with depth and breadth. Not only is “Warm Springs” an elucidating history lesson, detailing a moment in the life of one of the greatest figures of the 20th century, but it reveals Roosevelt’s deep and abiding humanity. Could he have been the man who faced the Great Depression and World War II had he not been stricken with polio and found his way to Warm Springs? Likely not. And that is what makes this generous and well-crafted movie a must see. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams