Based on true events this film shows us Janine Shepherd's fight back after being partially paralysed in a car accident. Her dream was to compete in the winter games in Calgary, but such aspiration was shattered; she lies in her hospital bed knowing she will never ski again and will never have children. But Australian women have guts: she manages to walk again and even learns to fly light planes, and of course there is a very happy ending. Simple enough story accompanied by correct music score and good photography. What does stick in the mind is Claudia Karvan's performance; quite memorable; it is, without a doubt, the strong point of the whole telefilm, and as such makes it a worthwhile couple of hours. I was pleased to see a bit of the Snowy Mountains, but even more so when Robertson, south west of Wollongong, near the famed Kangaroo Valley, came up on the screen, and there was just a brief glimpse of Botany Bay with a giant aircraft taking off from Kingsford Smith Airport. Apart from that, David Elfick seemed content to imitate the standard telefilm formulas set down by the USA, who are the past masters of such things, so that you cannot help thinking that besides being a vehicle to throw Ms. Karvan into the foreground, there is not much to mention - except that the main secondary actors carried out their performances pretty well. Six out of ten, though Ms. Karvan is worth at least 7 ½.
Review of Never Tell Me Never
Never Tell Me Never
(1998 TV Movie)
From competition cross-country skiing in the Snowies to acrobatic skylarks over Queensland
18 April 2001