FOREVER LOVE (TV)
Summary
This made-for-television drama film, loosely based on the true story of Canadian Annie Shapiro, tells the story of a woman who attempts to rebuild her life after awakening from a twenty-year coma.
The story begins as young mother Lizzie Brooks suddenly suffers a stroke while out with her toddler Emma and lapses into a coma. In the past, she and husband Alex have a whirlwind courtship and fairy-tale wedding alongside best friends Gail and Jerry, but in the present, Alex learns that her condition is uncertain and that they must simply wait for her body to heal itself. He firmly rejects the suggestion of a nursing facility and brings Lizzie home to care for her; as the years pass, Alex and Emma tend to her and update her on their changing lives. One day, Lizzie awakens in her bed and is stunned to learn from an ecstatic Alex that it has been "a long time" – twenty years – and that Emma is now an adult headed for law school. Lizzie's doctor confirms that she is healthy, though cautions her to take her recovery slowly. Lizzie is saddened to learn that Jerry has died, as have both of her parents.
Lizzie struggles to regain her physical strength and discovers that Gail is now a successful entrepreneur, though her friend is evasive when Lizzie asks if Alex reentered the dating world during her long absence. Alex seems nervous about rekindling his romance with Lizzie, and Emma soon announces that she is engaged to her boyfriend and future law partner, Chuck. While at the gym, Lizzie and Gail run into David, Emma's ex-flame, who seems taken aback to learn that she is soon to be married to someone new. Lizzie observes her daughter as she begins to plan her wedding and frets to Alex that Emma is clearly not "madly in love" with her fiancé; she grows frustrated as Alex continues to "baby" her. They attempt a weekend away together, though they end up arguing about Alex's corporate law work, with Alex bitterly pointing out that he had to take less-than-altruistic, high-paying work to afford her many medical bills over the years. Lizzie begins to find suspicious evidence about Alex and Gail's lives together during her coma. When she witnesses Gail's maternal behavior during Emma's wedding dress fitting, she accuses her friend of "having her life" and of being in love with her husband, which Gail does not deny.
Gail tries to explain that she and Alex bonded over their shared sense of loss, but Lizzie states that she needs time to process the profound changes in their lives. Elsewhere, David finds Emma and quickly observes that Chuck is "not for her." Emma soon begins to realize that she is drawn to David's spontaneity and romantic nature more than she is to Chuck's boring workaholic ways. Lizzie concludes that she and Alex are "strangers" after their decades apart, though she repairs her relationship with Emma as she assists her in studying for the bar exam. Emma assures her that "Aunt" Gail could never replace her. Gail finally tells Alex that Lizzie has figured out the truth of their romantic attachment, and though Alex assures Lizzie that his love for her is unchanged, Lizzie decides that she needs time alone to rediscover herself. She drives to her childhood home, now occupied by elderly widow Martha Craddock, and she explores the familiar rooms and bonds with her new friend over their experiences of family love and loss. Gail urges Alex to go find Lizzie, making it clear that she will not stand in the way of their happiness. Alex promises to give Lizzie the space she needs, but urges her to return home for Emma's wedding.
Lizzie talks to her daughter about her impending nuptials, suggesting that she is avoiding something by settling for the "safety" of her relationship with Chuck. Gail decides to leave town, concluding that she has spent too much time using Alex and Emma as a surrogate family and wishing to find a new life for herself. Emma concludes that she is not ready to get married and calls off the wedding. Alex tells Lizzie that he has given up his fancy profession to work in a legal clinic, having been reminded by her of his long-ago dream to help people. He and Lizzie finally rediscover their passion for one another, and when Emma tells her parents that she has decided not to marry, they use the would-be ceremony for their own vow renewal. Gail, having made peace with her friends' happiness, toasts them as they recommit to their marriage. Lizzie and Alex then share a dance in the rain. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:31:02
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:85005
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; Romance
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV, 1998
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Sharon Cicero … Executive Producer
- Richard P. Kughn … Executive Producer
- Reba McEntire … Executive Producer
- Narvel Blackstock … Executive Producer
- Shelley Browning … Executive Producer
- Ronnie D. Clemmer … Executive Producer
- Bill Pace … Executive Producer
- Joseph Nasser … Executive Producer
- Jack Nasser … Executive Producer
- William Shippey … Producer
- Juliet Green … Associate Producer
- Alan Siegel … Associate Producer
- Marla A. White … Associate Producer
- Joyce Heft Brotman … Consulting Producer, Writer
- Michael Switzer … Director
- Michael Tavera … Music by
- Reba McEntire … Cast, Lizzie Brooks
- Tim Matheson … Cast, Alex Brooks
- Bess Armstrong … Cast, Gail
- Heather Stephens … Cast, Emma Brooks
- Scott Foley … Cast, David
- Garrison Herschberger … Cast, Chuck
- Richard Biggs … Cast, Dr. Berris
- Frances Bay … Cast, Martha Craddock
- Andy Buckley … Cast, Jerry
- Kaitlin Orr … Cast, Little Emma
- Kirsten Holly Smith … Cast, Donna
- Garett Beck … Cast, Waitress
- Frederick Tucker … Cast, Maitre D'
- Antonia Jones … Cast, Physical Therapist
- Evan Taylor … Cast, ER Doctor
- Ryan Browning … Cast, Paramedic