SnoopyStyle Dawn Anna Townsend (Debra Winger) is a single mom of four teens struggling to make ends meet. She gets a low paying teaching job and becomes a beloved volleyball coach. Fellow teacher Bink takes a liking to her. She becomes chronically ill and hospitalized. She struggles to recover with the help of her kids, Bink and fellow teachers. Then the massacre at Columbine High School kills her daughter Lulu.It's great to see Debra Winger again. She's terrific and she is sorely missed. The first hour is functional sick mother movie. It has very little drama and no tension at all. Then the movie reveals a surprise that she's been teaching at Columbine all along. It's a shocking turn. I want to like this for Debra Winger and the subject matter. However the surprise is unnecessary and too distracting. The movie would work even better by showing Columbine from the very beginning. It would keep the tension high as the anticipation of the massacre grows.

edwagreen Debra Winger proves her mettle once again as she did 26 years ago in the memorable "Terms of Endearment."As always, this is a successful film because it deals with a family that comes together to aid their mother, played fantastically by Winger, who is in the grips of a major illness. The cohesiveness of the family structure was never better than depicted in this film. In addition to the warm, caring relationships, Winger finds happiness with a school associate and marriage pursues.How terrible that one of her children was a victim of the Columbine Massacre. The picture shows how Winger comes to grips with her loss and becomes a crusader against gun violence. A true triumph of the human spirit, this film should not be missed. Endearing as films can be.

kasmira36 I've seen the movie on the local cable TV. It was so touchy that I cried once in a while seeing it. I felt the hurt and pain the family's victims had been through. Wanting some more information about the incident, I'd searched on the internet, and what I'd got surprised me. As far as I see, the USA's government has always showed its power to the world. While the armies and enforcements has Always been quickly approaching other countries, why were they TOO late to save or rescue their own people? Both Cyclone Catarina and The Columbine tragidy have proved those surprising failures to the world. 3 hours in the Columbine's and 5 days in the Catarina's? I couldn't believe it, after they approaching my country, Thailand, not more than 2 or 3 days after the Tsunami's, for help which I, as all people in the country, had appreciated. Anyway, Is there any movie of Coach Dave Sanders, the teacher who sacrified himself to save his students? If there is none, how about some movie producers considering to make one? I think He was truly a hero and I would be truly glad to see it. ^_^

keesha_b As my husband and I watched the movie, the story was eerily similar. I'm also a secondary ed teacher, have had two brain surgeries (for Chiari Malformation not an AVM though), followed by re-hospitalization for severe infection, and had extensive rehabilitation to learn to speak and walk again. Debra Winger's performance was incredible and like looking in a mirror. She accurately portrayed the unending frustration and difficulty involved in the rehab process, and how it takes its toll on the family as well as the patient. The end was completely unexpected and I can't remember the last time I have felt so strongly for a family. To know this is real just breaks my heart, but Dawn Anna's strength keeps me going, as I'm facing a third brain surgery in the next couple weeks.