Story of breast-cancer researcher features local ties, strong cast

With strong Northwest connections, the most recent Lifetime network TV movie represents a prestigious step up for a cable channel known for grinding out maudlin female melodramas. Boasting a first-rate cast and A-list support from executive producers Renée Zellweger and her "Chicago" producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, "Living Proof" (premiering tonight on Lifetime at 9 p.m.) is being billed as "A Red Carpet Movie Event" to coincide with Lifetime's 14th annual "Stop Breast Cancer for Life" campaign.

Under the direction of Seattle International Film Festival co-founder-turned-independent filmmaker Dan Ireland, "Living Proof" avoids most of the sentimental pitfalls that have made Lifetime movies an easy target for critics. The movie pays tribute to Dr. Dennis Slamon (Harry Connick Jr.), the UCLA researcher who developed the revolutionary breast-cancer drug Herceptin. While chronicling Slamon's progress from 1988 to 1996, the film focuses on Slamon's first Herceptin trial subjects, a close-knit group of women that included Barbara Bradfield, who emerged from the trials cancer-free.

Bradfield now lives in Puyallup with her husband, Dean, whose devoted support is portrayed in the movie. Played by Bernadette Peters in "Living Proof," Bradfield was living in Southern California when she was diagnosed with cancer in 1990. Chemotherapy and radiation treatments were successful, but Bradfield's cancer returned just four months after her grown daughter was killed in an auto accident.

"She was pregnant with our first grandchild, so it was a dark, dark time for us," Bradfield recalled during a telephone interview. "Initially I said no to any more chemo, and I knew I was terminal, but as a last resort my doctor asked if he could send my test slides to Dr. Slamon. I was reluctant when he called to say I was qualified for the study, but now I'm forever grateful that he didn't take no for an answer."

Bolstered by her faith as a Jehovah's Witness, Bradfield was healthier than the other trial subjects due to a regimen of alternative remedies. As "Living Proof" demonstrates, her dramatic recovery was a vital step toward proving Herceptin's effectiveness. With heartbreaking honesty, the film also shows how other women in Slamon's original study were not so lucky.

While giving equal time to each member of its large ensemble cast, "Living Proof" works best when addressing the contractual restrictions and professional jealousies that hampered Slamon's work, including the initial absence of a "compassion clause" that would've allowed disqualified (and therefore doomed) test subjects to continue Herceptin treatments. Despite occasional chunks of clunky exposition, the teleplay (by co-executive producer Vivienne Radkoff) effectively details the humanitarian complexities of pioneering medical research.

For Ireland, the opportunity to direct a prestigious TV movie was made possible in part by his friendship with Zellweger, whose performance in the director's acclaimed 1996 film "The Whole Wide World" led to her star-making role opposite Tom Cruise in "Jerry Maguire."

"But I still had to go through a series of interviews to get the job," said Ireland during a telephone interview. "The producers didn't want to hire a TV director, so in that regard I was blessed. And I knew that TV was a producer's medium, so I always respected that. We didn't have any real disagreements, and I had as much freedom as I've had on any picture I've made."

Working with a tight 20-day shooting schedule last June, Ireland drew upon the experience of making his previous film "Jolene" (well-received at SIFF this year but still awaiting distribution) to adjust to the time constraints of TV production.

"You have to be on your game all the time, and you have do things in shorthand," Ireland said. "You have to establish communication with your actors very, very quickly, and I was really spoiled by an amazing cast that really responded to this material."

Ireland is particularly pleased that the score for "Living Proof" was recorded in Seattle with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, and he feels especially proud that his work could yield tangible benefits in terms of breast-cancer awareness.

"I've never done a film that could potentially change someone's life," Ireland said, "so if any woman sees this film and makes an early detection that leads to successful treatment, I'd be absolutely thrilled."

Jeff Shannon: j.sh@verizon.net