Rescate en la jungla

The obvious draw of this superior television movie is going to be the pre-mega stardom appearance of Jennifer Lopez. And she is just fine in a supporting performance as one of the titular nurses. But the real takeaway for me is what a truly great, underappreciated actress Lindsay Wagner is. She is the real deal - intelligent, vulnerable, charismatic... you name it. I am convinced had she the right material throughout her career, she would be known as one of our finest actresses rather than just the Bionic Woman. She is truly great here, and she leads a fine supporting cast in a surprisingly gripping and well produced TV film. It may be a lazy comparison, but I thought about SOUND OF FREEDOM while watching this. There are some superficially similar characteristics between the two, but I think this is so much better. It feels more real, it is more emotionally involving, and despite the limitations of the format, it is an overall more powerful experience. I was really surprised how engrossed I was in the story and how much I found myself caring about what happened to these people. Again, it occasionally suffers from the limits of what a television film is able to do, but Wagner and her fellow actors excel superbly, and this is much more than just an early steppingstone in the career of a superstar.