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Plot

Alex: The Life of a Child is based on the true story of Sports Illustrated writer Frank Deford and his dying 8-year-old daughter Alex. Craig T. Nelson plays Deford and Gennie James is Alex, both of whom come to grips in different ways with Alex's fatal cystic fibrosis. A subplot involves the torment of Deford's wife (Bonnie Bedelia), who wonders whether she should adopt a child after Alex's death in 1980. Alex: The Life of a Child is effective, but not as well made as its subject matter deserves. Better examples of this particular TV-movie genre include Death be Not Proud (75), based on author John Gunther's recollections of his son's struggle against a degenerative brain tumor, and Mary White (77) the story of a personal tragedy in the life of Kansas journalist William Allen White.
MPAA Rating:
Genre(s):
Drama
Run Time:
100min.
Director(s):
Robert Markowitz
Themes:
Dying Young,Battling Illness
Tone:
Elegiac,Poignant,Reflective
Keywords:
child,daughter,death-in-family,family-illness,ghost,life,terminal-illness,victim