Promises In The Dark

VHS, PG, 118 minutes, WARNER

Confronted daily by illness and suffering, many physicians develop a hard shell of professional detachment. It's a way of protecting themselves, of coping with constant tragedy. Dr. Alexandra Kendall, numbed by career demands and a recent divorce, hides behind such a shell...until she treats Buffy Koenig, a dying 17-years-old cancer patient who reawakens Kendall to life's possibilities. In spite of Kendall's attentive care, the courageous girl's condition worsens and forces the doctor to make an agonizing decision. Will she keep her promise to Buffy and allow her to die with dignity? Or will she maintain the coma-stricken girl on life-support machinery? Jerome Hellman, the Academy Award-winning filmmaker whose credits include "Midnight Cowboy" and "Coming Home," makes his directorial debut in this frank, finely crafted film. And Marsha Mason ("The Goodbye Girl," "Heartbreak Ridge") heads a remarkable cast as Dr. Kendall, a role she carefully researched. "Doctors must live with death everyday," Mason says. "As a doctor and a person, you have to find the balance between compassion and commitment and your own ability to survive emotionally. The character I play had gone too far in one direction and cut herself off as a woman. Through Buffy, she comes back to balance." Balance. That key word applies to "Promises In The Dark," too. The film casts an unflinching, compassionate eye on everyone affected by the young girl's illness. And, like "Whose Life Is It Anyway?", it moves and challenges viewers. It may even inspire you to live your life more fully.