For the Love of Nancy

I originally watched this film in Health class while studying eating disorders and other self-image diseases and I thought that it would never be very good. But it is pretty good, especially for a Lifetime channel made-for-TV movie. It is about a young girl named Nancy who becomes anorexic to the point where she is running nearly all day and disposes of food given to her by her watchful mother by hiding it under her bed and even knocking out a hole in the wall to dump food into. This film was full of drama and showed the damage that anorexia nervosa can do not only to the person infected with it, but to the victim's family (Nancy almost died). This was good and I recommend it to anyone. But if you or anyone in your family has been anorexic you should stay away, as it is sure to bring back bad memories. Feel free to email me with any questions or comments.

I found this film very powerful, particularly as it was based on a true story. Some of the other comments made about it were inaccurate and I felt the need to correct them. Someone said that Nancy wouldn't have eaten pizza hours before getting her teeth pulled; but Nancy's brother clearly said their mother had made the appointment - Nancy didn't know about it until after she got home from the prom. It didn't explain why wisdom teeth got pulled - did they have to explain every insignificant detail? Many people get them pulled because they are growing in wrong and painfully. Tracey Gold chose to play the role - no one forced her to. And her performance was convincing, probably more so because of her own anorexia. It showed one line dance during the prom - maybe it was something the students did as a fun change; like when Whigfield's Saturday Night came out and you couldn't go to any disco without it being played. A lot of people like to have a dance routine to follow, so a line dance makes sense. A lot of people, including parents, don't see the signs that someone they love has an eating disorder, especially if they believe the person to be happy. Also, this episode happened in the 70s when there wasn't nearly as much exposure about anorexia. i doubt the movie was made to 'help people out'; more likely someone saw the potential in it, or perhaps they were moved by the story and wanted to make their own version of it. I assume Nancy Walsh really was taken to court by her parents, as the film is based on a true story. This is not unbelievable; similar things have happened. Someone blamed the film for their weight gain - I seriously hope they were joking as this is the flimsiest excuse I've heard yet. 'Nancy is a very grating character who screams and throws fits' - has this person ever dealt with an anorexic person? Their eating disorder is the one thing that matters to them - wouldn't you have a hissy fit if everyone you knew was determined to take away the one thing that mattered to you? 'never truly explains why she has this disease' - the basic explanation was given: Nancy had been babied all her life, was emotionally dependent on her mother and couldn't face being separated from her family, not to mention the responsibility of being an adult. Eating disorders are complex; often there are no easy explanations. Of course everyone has different views on films, and not everyone likes the same ones. But maybe people should get their facts straight before shooting their mouth off.

i'm sure it was very difficult for tracey gold to act in what was a story that mirrored her own life, but i do think it was kind of sick to get an anorexic to play an anorexic. some people might argue that it was therapeutic for her, but once an anorexic, always an anorexic. it's like being an alcoholic; you're never cured.

the parents are portrayed as clueless, especially the mother. jill clayburg manages to take the character and make her unsymapthetic, annoying, bossy, and whiny all at the same time. if she were my mother, i'd skip a slow death and swallow some poison instead. william devane gives a solid performance as always, as does mark-paul goselaar. he plays the role of the caring brother very convincingly. the other brother, the "food cop" could have been played by a cardboard cutout and it would have had a larger range of emotions.

all-in-all, pretty run-of-the-mill lifetime fodder. watch it if only to count how many times somebody tells tracey gold to eat. (i lost count.)

For The Love Of Nancy is the true story of Nancy Walsh, a young girl who's so obsessed with her weight that she becomes anorexic. Tracey Gold plays the role of Nancy and she gives a great performance. The brilliant Mark-Paul Gosselaar also gives a great performance here as Nancy's brother. For The Love Of Nancy is a really good and interesting true-story which I recommend to everyone.

Boasting more plot holes than your average piece of Swiss cheese, this was Tracey Gold's first major role after recovering from anorexia. I highly doubt anyone's parents would take their anorexic daughter to court, no matter what the feelings involved were. Jill Clayburgh wails and wrings her hands, William Devane's big scene involves throwing a bowl on the floor, and Cameron Bancroft and Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Gold's brothers deliver acting performances with all the depth of Jello. Gold, of course, fares better than everyone and her own experiences truly shed light upon her character's struggles, but the featherweight scripts and hammy "supporting acting" let her down. Maybe this would have worked better as an ABC After School Special.