Review of Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story

This was a very sketchy and vague account of Jessica Savitch's life. If not for the outstanding performance by Sela Ward and Ron Silver, I think this film would have done much worse in ratings. We are given no background of this character and why she is so aggressive and driven to succeed as a newswoman. You only see a highly successful, celebrity type of anchorwoman who outshines many of her peers, but her personal life and relationships are disastrous. With Ron Kershaw, she has a stormy and tumultuous relationship. Still they do love each other and cannot seem to go very long without getting back together. Her first assignment was in Houston and then moved onto Philadelphia where she landed her first big assignment. Being very demanding and temperamental though, she is hard to work with and earns a bad reputation. Ultimately this will lead to her famous Meltdown video which was copied and sent to networks throughout the country.

Sadly she was plagued by tragedy both in marriage and in personal relationships. Both of her marriages failed, one from suicide of her spouse, who had been heavily into drugs. Then becoming pregnant, she suffered a miscarriage, which she was slow to recover from. Then cocaine became a problem for her later in her career which may have led to her professional downfall.

Still Jessica Savitch was a brilliant anchorwoman who gained a celebrity status. She was well known throughout our country and very popular too. Her legacy will live on as the first woman anchor in news and as a role model for many up and coming newswomen. For this alone she will be remembered.