In the first scene of "The Russell Girl" (good movie, terrible title), a young assistant buyer for Macy's in Chicago, played by Amber Tamblyn of "Joan of Arcadia," learns that she has an aggressive form of leukemia and needs immediate treatment.

Instead of going to the hospital, Sarah Russell drives to her parents' home in the small town of Staunton, Ill. (although the movie was filmed in Port Credit, Ontario), but she keeps her illness a secret. What seemed initially to be a "disease of the week" movie instead becomes Hallmark Hall of Fame's version of "Ordinary People" -- Judith Guest's book and the Oscar-winning movie about how a death has affected a dysfunctional family.

When Sarah happens to see an ambulance on the overnight journey home, she becomes so disturbed that she sideswipes her car against the median.

And when this ailing young woman pulls into her parents' driveway, Lorraine Morrissey, the neighbor across the street (played by Jennifer Ehle), meets her eyes and glares at her. She tells her husband (Henry Czerny), with daggers in her voice, that "the Russell girl" is home.

Slowly we learn that "the Russell girl" -- who has just been accepted at Northwestern University's medical school -- is responsible for a tragedy in the home of her neighbors. In this twist on "Ordinary People," Tamblyn has the Timothy Hutton role, and Ehle has the Mary Tyler Moore role.

Six years after the tragedy, Sarah speculates that her leukemia may be punishment for allowing the accident to occur, and that she deserves to be sick. Lorraine blames everyone, including herself, as her mental health unravels.

In a shocking scene, reminiscent of the book and movie "Mommie Dearest," Ehle's character has a meltdown and starts chopping up her rosebushes with hedge clippers. Ehle -- who has won Tony Awards for "The Real Thing" and "The Coast of Utopia" and starred in the beloved 1995 A&E miniseries "Pride and Prejudice" opposite Colin Firth -- bats the performance out of the ballpark.

Lorraine rebuffs Sarah's attempts at reconciliation -- until she is the first person to realize that Sarah is sick. Because this is a Hallmark Hall of Fame production, never doubt that reconciliation, communication, hope and family will triumph.

In a fine supporting cast, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Tim DeKay play Sarah's loving but dysfunctional parents, and Paul Wesley is her hunky ex-boyfriend en route to becoming her next boyfriend.

The movie's central theme is spelled out: Bad things happen to good people all the time. Fortunately for us, this movie is not a bad thing at all.

First Published: January 27, 2008, 10:00 a.m.