Out of Darkness

I didn't realize I was watching Diana Ross when I saw this. She is very good.

The movie does an extraordinary job of conveying what psychosis is like. Been there, done that. What's even better is that it shows, in realistic ways, what it is like to cope with psychosis.

Too many films romanticize psychosis - madness is enticing if horrifying, a voyeuristic thrill for the presumably sane. In this film, it is humanized. Paulie struggles to "ride it out", to have a plan to cope, to cope, and to go beyond coping to living a full life, while managing her own condition. Tremendously empowering.

This film lacks syrup, and while it is dramatic it is not generally melodramatic. Paulie's work to trust others so that she can heal, to rebuild relationships with her family as she does, to face the real, irreparable changes that 18 years of poorly controlled schizophrenia have had on her child, her family & herself is so well portrayed that it merits a run-on sentence.

9 stars.

Having just retired from working in a forensic psychiatric facility, I can attest that the performance I saw last evening on the Lifetime Movie Network, Out Of Darkness, is about as real as it gets. Most patients are very much aware of their illness and very aware of their treatment and the drugs they take for this illness - Paranoid Schizophrenia. Their auditory and visual hallucinations are truly real to them and control their everyday life. Clozoril, which is the drug Paulie took to experience normality, is the miracle drug used in the battle against this mental condition when other drugs fail. Although very effective, it has many, many adverse side affects.

Diana Ross should definitely have been given an Emmy award, at the very least, for her portrayal of an individual stricken with this disease. She played a Paranoid-Schizo to a tee. I don't know how I missed seeing this movie all these years. A truly remarkable performance from an individual who is a multi-faceted entertainer. A singer/actress who has had to fight her own demons and I'm sure drew on those experiences to portray Paulie Cooper. Does anyone know if this movie was in part based on a true story?

TV movie "Out of Darkness" allows us to experience the turns on Pauline Cooper's life, an afro-american Medicine student who at the height of her student life is caught by paranoid-schyzophrenia, at the age of 23. Action starts on a usual day of Pauline's life and takes the viewer to a critical phase on the character life. The story also shows us the daily struggle of living with someone who is not the owner of its own will, due to mental illness, and how it can affect an entire family. The movie most inspirational scenes are those of the attempts of Pauline to restart her normal life, after endless hospital treatments and experiences with new drugs to treat the disease. The most important message of the film is a kind of a tribute and a positive inspiration to all those who fight mental problems. Diana Ross put her movie career back on the track after several years without movie appearences (since "The Wiz" in 1978). Miss Ross wisely found this project and produced it trough her ANAID Film Productions as the perfect veycule for a movie comeback. One of the most interesting aspects of the movie is that Ross is not playing a singer (as usual), and does not contributes with songs to the soundtrack, making it a plain acting-ability show, reminding us that being one of the greatest show women alive, requires more than playing singers in trouble. "Out of Darkness" is also an open door to other drama projects by Diana Ross, leaving the viewer with high expectation for more projects starring Diana Ross on the so-called serious matters of life. It is also the evidence that Diana Ross is not the distant diva at all.

Diana Ross truly reigns Supreme in this made for '94 TV movie about a 43 yr. old former doctor battling Paranoid Schizophrenia. This is one of those memorable "TV Movies" that is actually too good for TV. Gone are the typical TV movie clichés', obvious character developing scenes, and silly subplots. Portraying a paranoid schizophrenic convincingly when you are one of the most famous and glamorous entertainers on the planet must not be an easy task, but from the very first scene Miss Ross pulls it off. This is a heart breaking story of a former doctor who struggles with the illness for 20 years. After countless bouts with hospitals, mental institutions, shock therapy, and treatment centers a new experimental drug finally offers hope. The story examines how the disease really effects an entire family and the supporting cast is superb as well. Ross was nominated for and Emmy for her performance and won many others.

I remember when I first saw this and thought this is the piece that will re-energize Diana Ross' acting career. An argument can be made that it is her best acting performance ever! even better than "Lady". For the simple reason is that there was no singing, or music for that matter in this film. Diana had to draw on other things to pull this off. And pull it off she did.. Why she didn't receive major accolades for this role is perplexing. Also this made for t.v movie has been locked in a vault somewhere for the last decade. I can't recall ever seeing this replayed again on t.v. The subject matter is very serious and reaches millions of people. It was handle well and with integrity. And the lead performance was as strong as any seen on the small screen.. So why has this performance and film been socio overlooked over the years? Very disappointing...