Tuesdays With Morrie Reviews

The winner of three Emmy Awards, this inspirational Oprah Winfrey Production is based on sportswriter Mitch Albom's memoir, a selection from her popular book club. Despite stellar performances, this terminal-illness weepie contains a bit too much spiritual cheerleading. Mitch Albom (Hank Azaria) is an undisputed success story; he writes a sports column for the Detroit Free Press and is always racing for planes to interviews and presiding over TV and radio shows. But despite his professional accomplishments and long-term personal relationship with back-up singer Janene (Wendy Moniz), Mitch senses that something is missing from his busy life. While watching TV in a hotel room, Mitch catches a piece on his old college professor, Morrie Schwartz (Jack Lemmon), who's dying from ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). Mitch hasn't seen his mentor in 15 years, but he impulsively visits Morrie and rekindles their friendship. Mitch's boss gripes about priorities, but Mitch looks forward to his weekly get-togethers with Morrie, whose optimistic outlook in the face of adversity leads Mitch to question his own values. As Morrie reminisces about his troubled upbringing, which included the premature death of his mother and his father's emotional distance, Mitch decides to make some changes in his own life. He proposes to Janene and, as Morrie's health deteriorates, finally understands Morrie's life-enhancing philosophy. But as Mitch's spiritual guide approaches death he must find a way to live his life in a way that would make Morrie proud. This crowd-pleasing ode to emotional transcendence is elevated by the seamless teamwork of Lemmon and Azaria, though Morrie dispenses aphorisms like a dying Auntie Mame.