The Christian Broadcasting Network-owned CBN Family Channel airs its first made-for-cable movie, "Mother's Day," today at 5 p.m. and again Sunday at 4 p.m. Any anxiety that the production would be laced with piety and roses is quickly dismissed in the opening scene.
Three white teen-agers drive into a tough neighborhood to buy drugs, and one of the youths is sliced up like a melon by a black pusher. Arrested and jailed for the murder is a hard-working, affable, college-bound kid, strongly played by Malcolm-Jamal Warner (Theo Huxtable on "The Cosby Show").
Denise Nichols, in what is probably her most rigorous and passionate performance to date, portrays the suspect's determined mother, battling a stacked deck of evidence incriminating her 19-year old son in the drug-related killing. Bernie Casey, as the family's middle-class breadwinner, is saddled with a hapless, passive role, and does little to redeem it. This is the wife's story all the way.
Inspired by a true incident, the production is flavorfully supported by Jose Ferrer's salty judge, Joe Lambie's coarse detective, and the brassy public defender duo of Greg Salata and Melba Moore.
