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AIDS Major 
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TITLE |
Place for Annie, A (1994) (TV Film) |
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NOTES |
A baby is
diagnosed as being born with AIDS and a heroin |
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habit, from
her mother who was a "drug abuser". |
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The general
opinion in the hospital is that the baby will die but Spacek
playing the 'good' doctor thinks otherwise. |
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Discovering
that it is very difficult to get foster care for such |
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babies she
decides to foster the baby herself. Here a wrong |
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note is
struck because the first thing Spacek does is look for a nanny for
the baby. Being a busy doctor she doesn't have |
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time herself
so the fostering becomes an act of charity which |
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isn't such a
bad thing, better than the baby remaining in the |
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Of course no
one wants to care for a baby with AIDS so after |
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a few
unsuccessful calls she neglects to mention this. And |
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along comes
Joan Plowright. She hasn't cared for a child |
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before but
she has raised her own children. By the time the |
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'secret' is
out Plowright is hooked. Though Spacek's teenage |
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son isn't
too keen on the new arrival. |
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The action
moves to one year later and Spacek wants to |
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adopt,
however the mother, Mary-Louise Parker, decides she wants the
baby back. |
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Now this is
TV fare but this is the third respected actor who |
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has appeared
so we can't complain. A fairly routine script is |
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raised by
these three women. |
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The mother
despite living in a flophouse and being a chain |
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smoker wins
custody. But Spacek's doctor on top on being a |
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saint
invites the mother to come live with her. The working |
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class mother
doesn't adapt too well to the middle class home |
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but she does
have Plowright to look after the baby. |
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Then it is
discovered that the baby is not HIV positive after all |
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(she had HIV
anti-bodies but not the virus). That's the good |
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news but the
mother is taken into hospital with AIDS related |
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complications and asks that they turn off the usual pipes and
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stuff and
let her die. Spacek won't allow it and the mother |
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comes out
only to decide to go to a hospice because she doesn't want the baby to
see her die.
Definitely above average because of Spacek, Parker and Plowright.
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Notes
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