TV Eye

Warm Springs

There's a reason the TV biopic is maligned. As of late, many have turned to sensational "ripped from the headlines" stories and rushed to production before viewers are led by the nose to the next TV tabloid scandal. Not so with the newest HBO film, Warm Springs, which premieres on the cable network Saturday.

Kenneth Branagh and Cynthia Nixon star as Franklin Delano and Eleanor Roosevelt in this finely tuned film centering on FDR's years prior to his presidency, when he was stricken with polio. The excellent script by first-time screenwriter Margaret Nagle, while launched from this pivotal moment in Roosevelt's life, is so much more than a disease-of-the-week melodrama. It is a study in how Roosevelt came into his own political and social consciousness during a powerfully formative period of his life. The chosen son of a patrician New York clan, family and associates had actively groomed FDR for the political limelight. When polio strikes, he not only faces the indignities inflicted on his once able body, but is cast into a world of shameful isolation. Like HIV-AIDS patients, polio victims were often regarded with fear, loathing, and, by some, deserving of God's punishment.

Warm Springs is also an exploration of one of the most famous first couples of the U.S. presidency. Like another famous first couple, fidelity was not high on FDR's list of attributes. A particularly brazen dalliance all but dissolves the Roosevelts' marriage. When polio strikes, their estrangement is agonizingly pronounced. How the two reinvent their marriage to become the nation's most powerful first couple goes far beyond any "how could he, why does she" screed but plumbs the surprising depths of love and devotion.

The performances in Warm Springs are uniformly superb. Nixon's portrayal of Eleanor's transformation from a shy wife to a poised public speaker and powerful cohort in her husband's future political career is lovely. Nixon brings strength and dignity in a gracefully understated performance.

Though the Roosevelts have become iconic, screenwriter Nagle manages to humanize them, so viewers forget they're observing the lives of historical figures. And while the Roosevelts' individually famous way with words is present, Nagle places some of the best dialogue in Tim Blake Nelson's able hands in a key supporting role as Tom Loyless. FDR meets Loyless when he travels to the Meriweather Inn, a Georgia spa with warm springs that promise curative properties. After a long period of self-loathing, yet still holding on to his sense of entitlement, Roosevelt is beautifully unbraided by Loyless on several occasions.

"This place is a wreck!" Roosevelt barks at Loyless, aghast at the run-down condition of the Inn.

"Yes, we've seen better days," Loyless says. "But then, I imagine, so have you."

Loyless, along with several other key characters along the way, illuminates the path FDR had to travel before seeking his legendary presidency. Though Warm Springs is about a man confronting adversity and overcoming it, the film manages to be inspirational without choking on sentimentality.

Jane Alexander, Kathy Bates, and David Paymer also star.

Warm Springs premieres Saturday, April 30, at 7pm on HBO. Check local listings for encore screenings.

D'Oh?

"Maeby" I hallucinated the press release from Fox stating that Arrested Development had been picked up for a third season. After a reader wrote me about my off-the-cuff report of this news to see if it was true, I went searching through my massive recycle bin to prove myself right. Darn if I can't find the press release now. But like the glib Maeby, played so deliciously by Alia Shawkat, who managed to get herself a Hollywood executive's job by just saying she was one, well, hey! Maybe I've learned something from Maeby in the "saying it makes it so" department. Either that or I'm a boob. I prefer the former, and, if that's the case, remember you heard it here first.

As always, stay tuned.

New to Austin

Time Warner Cable recently added a new addition to their lineup. Starting last Tuesday, the Azteca America network now airs on cable Channel 14 (local broadcast Channel 31, KADF). Azteca America is a subsidiary of the second-largest producer of Spanish-language TV in the world, and Mexico's second-largest broadcaster. According to Nielsen Media research reported in a Time Warner press release, Austin is the 21st largest Hispanic TV market in the nation. Azteca America is currently available in 38 Hispanic communities, including 14 of the 15 largest Hispanic markets. The network carries "high quality Spanish-language programming, novelas, news, sports and entertainment."