'Life According to Sam' makes HBO debut
Documentary tells the story of a teen growing old too young and of his scientist mother's race against time.
* LIFE ACCORDING TO SAM. 9 tonight, HBO.
EXCEPT for one small thing, Sam Berns is the teenage son of any parent's dreams.
Outgoing and articulate, he's a terrific student, a musician, a sports fan. He's charming and empathetic, comfortable with his peers but not too cool to hang out with his parents.
Which he has to do maybe more than most kids, because the small thing is a biggie: an exceedingly rare genetic difference that makes him one of maybe 250 people in the world with progeria, a progressive aging disorder so deadly that at nearly 17, Sam, who's a high school junior, has already exceeded the average life expectancy by years.
That's kind of a spoiler, but then he's already been on "Katie" this month. And without knowing that Sam's still with us, you might be as reluctant as I was to watch a film that admittedly had left me in tears - but mostly during the happy parts.
"I put myself in front of you to let you know you don't need to feel bad for me," says Sam at the beginning of the HBO documentary "Life According to Sam." "I want you to know me. This is my life, and progeria is part of it. It's not a major part of it, but it is part of it."
Sam's also in front of the cameras because of another accident of birth. His parents are physicians, and when he was diagnosed at 2, his mother, Dr. Leslie Gordon, stepped away from her residency to begin a race against time.
Along with Gordon's sister, Audrey, a lawyer, Sam's family formed the Progeria Research Foundation, which raised money to fund research that first identified the gene that caused the condition and, in 2007, launched a research study into a drug treatment it was hoped would at least help to slow its progress.
That's blinding speed in the world of medical research, but Gordon can be forgiven for any impatience with a system that holds those seeking new cures to a high standard.
Besides her own son, there were 27 other children, from 16 countries, in the study and every one faced a certain, early death from heart attack or stroke.
Meanwhile, there were other children who came along too late to be included in the study - which, in a departure from standard protocol, didn't withhold treatment from a control group - and they, too, weighed on Gordon's mind and heart.
Without Sam, this might still have been a pretty good film about how modern science works (and sometimes doesn't), and filmmakers Sean and Andrea Nix Fine, who won an Oscar this year for their short film "Inocente," do a fine job of finding the drama in a process that's not always inherently dramatic.
But it's Sam and his parents, who've refused to let his situation keep him from living as full a life as possible, who make "Life According to Sam" one of the feel-good movies of my year, at least.
Helping out 'Mom'
Oscar winner Octavia Spencer guest-stars on "Mom" (9:30 tonight, CBS3), where she'll be reunited with Allison Janney, one of her co-stars from "The Help."
Stunt-casting doesn't get much more obvious than that, but at least Spencer's not playing a maid this time. And, no, there's not a chocolate pie in sight.
On Twitter: @elgray
Blog: ph.ly/EllenGray