Sci Fi's 'Tin Man' Plods On the Yellow Brick Road

It spoils nothing to reveal that before the movie's over, DG will hail little Glitch as "the smartest guy I know" and tearfully tell Raw, "You have taught me that courage is not about being fearless -- it's about standing up in spite of your fear." And so on, such peeps of sentimentality only serving to emphasize the film's uneven mix of the sardonic and the heartfelt. "Tin Man" unfortunately seems as bereft of an efficiently functioning ticker as is the titular character himself.

'Pictures of Hollis Woods'

There aren't enough synonyms for "radiant" available when trying to describe the three utterly splendid actresses who brighten up "Pictures of Hollis Woods," a two-hour family drama airing tomorrow night on CBS. The 231st entry in the "Hallmark Hall of Fame," this sensitive and disarming drama is enough to give a G rating a good name. A really, really good name.

Soft-spoken and tender-hearted, the film about a troubled adolescent -- troubled in an unusual rather than cliched way -- gives Alfre Woodard, Sissy Spacek and relative newcomer Jodelle Ferland golden opportunities, and each makes the most of them without histrionics or self-consciousness. There's no "Look ma, I'm acting," but instead a natural credibility to the characters and the painful situations in which they find themselves.

Inventively, the film follows two parallel timelines at once. Hollis Woods is a person, not a place, and as the film opens, the 12-year-old (looking older) orphan is being taken by social worker Edna Reilly (Woodard) to the idyllic seaside home of Josie Cahill (Spacek), latest in a long line of would-be foster parents. As the shy Hollis and the scatterbrained Josie get to know each other, we are taken back four months in time to the house of Steven and Izzy Regan, Hollis's previous home.

As the two stories progress, it becomes clear why Hollis is no longer with the Regans, even though they and their son couldn't have tried harder to make Hollis feel at home. Meanwhile, in the present, Hollis realizes that her new adoptive mother isn't merely scatterbrained.

At first there are little signs -- confusing the doorbell with a ringing phone, putting dishes into the trash basket rather than the dishwasher. But more and more familiar people and places become alien, and it's clear Josie is sinking further into the dark disarray of Alzheimer's.

The two tracks cross in a smart and satisfying way, and if there are any implausibilities in the plot, the skills of the three performers render them moot. Woodard is the epitome of quiet understanding, and Spacek is the subtlest kind of heartbreaker.

Finally there is Ferland, who proves herself an adept and haunting presence in the tradition of the greatest young actors. Hers is a performance that seems both instinctively humane and shrewdly skillful, and watching it, one can't help imagining the many memorable characters and performances yet to come. Hollis Woods will probably have plenty of company but remain unforgettable nevertheless.

Tin Man (six hours) debuts tomorrow night at 9 on Sci Fi; the miniseries continues Monday and Tuesday night at 9. Pictures of Hollis Woods (two hours) airs tomorrow night at 9 on Channel 9.