A touching telepic, this was perfect for it's original Mother's Day debut. It stars Gloria Reuben (of ER) as woman who grew up in a foster home and now, with her own family life bustling, becomes ever more curious about her biological mother. Flashbacks help the story unfold, from the early '60s where a white woman gives up a black child conceived after a rape. For most of the period that follows, this child lives with a black foster mother (Lynn Whitfield) and grow fond of each other. As a teen, she is adopted by a well meaning but woefully unprepared white liberal (Alice Krige) who gains a black daughter but loses her skittish boyfriend in the process. The young black woman rebels, and eventually runs away, never to return. Now as as she yearns to know the truth and to find her mother, she revisits her foster mother and has a chance encounter with her adoptive mother. Anne Bancroft is superb in a Emmy winning performance as the now aged biological mother. Ruben shines in the lead, and Whitfield and Krige lend fine emotional support. While there are some tear jerking moments in the end, the film itself is more the story of a quest than a simple tearjerker melodrama. Strictly a TV movie, but a very fine one.
