A Family Learns to Intensify Its Love in CBS Drama ‘Jewel’

In last year’s TNT movie “Baby,” Farrah Fawcett’s maternal character took in an abandoned infant while grappling with the aftermath of her child’s premature death. In “Jewel,” a poignant period piece airing tonight on CBS, the actress treads on more emotional terrain as a devoted mother raising a daughter with Down’s syndrome.

In the wrong hands, this film would be awash in bathos and manipulation. As sensitively written by Susan Cooper (based on a novel by Bret Lott) and directed by Paul Shapiro, it succeeds by giving us flawed characters we can care about.

Via voice-over, Fawcett’s Jewel spells out the story early on as one about “lovin’ and lettin’ go.” Jewel, her husband, Leston (Patrick Bergin), and four children live in rural, post-World War II Mississippi, where she gives birth to Brenda Kay, who is diagnosed months later as mentally and physically retarded. Rather than give up the infant, the resilient family invests its scant money in calcium injections, with Jewel believing they can make a difference “if we love her enough.”

Ever protective, Jewel is assisted by Cathedral (Cicely Tyson), a midwife who prophesies that Brenda Kay will be a lifelong hardship. Above all, Jewel wants the child to feel love, but that leaves her little time for the patient Leston and their brood. Eventually, she places the girl in a special California school.

The film is not without its predictable passages. The moment Leston shows his prized lighter to Brenda Kay, for instance, it’s inevitable she will start a fire with the lighting fluid. But that’s a minor misstep in an otherwise honest and life-affirming production that offers credible conflicts.

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Fawcett brings warmth and humanity to a role that, thankfully, is not written as worthy of sainthood. In fact, it is Jewel’s selfless dedication that makes her all the more vulnerable, even though it comes at the expense of others. Bergin is firm and resolute as Leston, a man willing to do what’s best for his family. Meanwhile, the ever-reliable Tyson shines brightly as the flinty Cathedral, and the supporting cast of youngsters--which includes Sonia Lynn Kerr, Laura Mercer and Ashley Wolfe as Brenda Kay at different ages--is very good.

Shapiro maintains a subdued tone in his direction, which never betrays the characters by settling for maudlin moments or histrionic confrontations. And the film may even provide a valued lesson for parents who have difficulty letting go of their own children with Down’s syndrome.

* “Jewel” airs tonight at 9 on CBS. The network has rated it TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children).