Living Proof | |
---|---|
Genre | Biography Drama |
Written by | Vivienne Radkoff, Robert Bazell |
Directed by | Dan Ireland |
Starring | Harry Connick Jr. Paula Cale Angie Harmon Amanda Bynes |
Music by | Halli Cauthery |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producers | Vivienne Radkoff Renée Zellweger |
Producers | Neil Meron Craig Zadan |
Cinematography | James Chressanthis |
Editor | Margaret Goodspeed |
Running time | 125 min. |
Production companies | Lifetime Sony Pictures Television Storyline Entertainment |
Original release | |
Network | Lifetime |
Release | October 18, 2008 |
Living Proof is a 2008 Lifetime Television film, directed by Dan Ireland. The film stars Harry Connick Jr. as Dr. Dennis Slamon, a doctor who is trying to find a cure for breast cancer. The film also stars Paula Cale, Angie Harmon, and Amanda Bynes (in her final television appearance) in supporting roles.
The film follows the true story of Dr. Dennis Slamon (played by Harry Connick Jr.), who helped develop the breast cancer drug Herceptin, over the course of 8 years from 1988 to 1996. Dr. Slamon is a physician scientist at UCLA Medical Center (Los Angeles), where he has developed the experimental drug Herceptin, which he believes will become a treatment for breast cancer. However, when the drug company stops funding the research, philanthropists, including Lilly Tartikoff (Angie Harmon) and Ronald Perelman help him continue drug research. Funding was done with an initial donation from Perelman's Revlon charity, and continued over the years with the "Fire and Ice Ball" organized by Tartikoff.
Eventually the drug company funds the research and the drug goes through three trials before gaining approval from the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Prior to the trials, the drug undergoes a preclinical animal trial. Nicole (Tammy Blanchard), a young mother with stage 4 cancer, receives the drug first. Although her mother Elizabeth (Swoosie Kurtz) pleads with Dr. Slamon, Nicole is not included in the subsequent trials as she does not meet the trial requirements. The women in the trials, particularly the first trial, band together. They handle their disease and drug trial, with humor—Tish (Jennifer Coolidge), or with alternative therapy—Tina (Trudie Styler). The stories of Barbara (Bernadette Peters) and Ellie (Regina King) are followed throughout, as they go through the trials and eventual recovery. Some patients involved in the tests die, but ultimately Slamon's work with the drug changes the course of breast cancer treatment.
Note: the women patients portrayed are composites with the exception of Barbara Bradfield. [1]
Harry Connick Jr. has written "Song for the Hopeful". The song is also part of Connick's album What a Night! A Christmas Album , which is to be released in November 2008. [2] Sony has announced it will give a contribution to breast cancer charities, for each download of "Song for the Hopeful" (Theme from "Living Proof") from iTunes, where it was released on October 7, 2008. [3]
Teleplay writer Vivienne Radkoff had the story for about seven years before it was completed. It is an adaptation of Robert Bazell's book HER-2: The Making of Herceptin, a Revolutionary Treatment for Breast Cancer. The film was the first mainstream feature film to be scored as a solo project by composer Halli Cauthery.
Renée Zellweger, in her first television project, is executive producer, with Neil Meron and Craig Zadan producers. [4] Zellweger has produced one film prior to this, Miss Potter (2006). Zellweger suggested casting Harry Connick, Jr. for the film. [5] They had acted together in the romantic comedy New in Town .
Filming of Living Proof took place in New Orleans, Louisiana in 2008. [6] The filming location was suggested by Connick, because, he said: "It's expensive to film in Los Angeles, and my being from New Orleans, it's a chance to help the city get back on its feet a little bit by employing a lot of the local people." [7]
The film premiered on October 18, 2008, for Lifetime's "Stop Breast Cancer for Life" public service and advocacy campaign, during the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. [8] [9] The movie averaged 2.5 million viewers in its debut on October 18, 2008. [10]
A red carpet premiere evening screening took place in New York on September 24, 2008, with a reception following with Harry Connick, Jr. and Bernadette Peters performing. [11] [12] Subsequent screenings took place in Washington, D.C. (September 25), [13] [14] Los Angeles (October 7), and London (October 9). [15]
Variety wrote: "Earnest, emotional and cast to the hilt with cameos for actresses, "Living Proof" rises above most Lifetime movie fare...There's also some nice camaraderie among the women patients, who are introduced as the song "Say a Little Prayer" appropriately plays in the background. It's that sort of movie – one without much use for subtlety – but the theme and execution should resonate strongly with those who tune in, helping promote the network's "Stop Breast Cancer for Life" public-awareness campaign.Lifetime movies often get a bad rap...but every once in awhile[ sic ], they genuinely do some good by doing well." [16]
The Denver Post critic wrote:"A stunning lineup of talented actresses combines with a lively script to distinguish what might have been a fairly ordinary disease movie on Lifetime this weekend. A based-on-truth testament to perseverance and essential human goodness, the film offers proof that determined individuals can win the fight against huge, heartless drug companies." [17]
The USA Today critic wrote:"'Living Proof' knows its target audience, though, and appeals to it with an earnestness made more engaging by a string of winning performances. Connick sustains the breezy charm he has shown as an actor and musician, but also shows a decided urgency in tracing Slamon's often frustrating, sometimes desperate struggle to get the support and funds required for his work...The women who take part in those trials are presented as a motley sorority and portrayed with a decided lack of vanity. Glamorous gals such as Bernadette Peters, Trudie Styler and Tammy Blanchard turn up looking weary and strained but also evoke the humor and resilience of their characters...Swoosie Kurtz and Regina King add extra sass as, respectively, Blanchard's mother and another young woman who survives cancer only to see it return in a more aggressive form." [18]
Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr. is an American singer, pianist, composer, actor, and former television host. As of 2019, he has sold over 30 million records worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with 16 million in certified sales. He has had seven top 20 U.S. albums, and ten number-one U.S. jazz albums, earning more number-one albums than any other artist in U.S. jazz chart history as of 2009.
Bernadette Peters is an American actress and singer. Over a career spanning more than six decades, she has starred in musical theatre, television and film, performed in solo concerts and released recordings. She is a critically acclaimed Broadway performer, having received seven nominations for Tony Awards, winning two, and nine Drama Desk Award nominations, winning three. Four of the Broadway cast albums on which she has starred have won Grammy Awards.
Renée Kathleen Zellweger is an American actress. The recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards, she was one of the world's highest-paid actresses by 2007.
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Trastuzumab, sold under the brand name Herceptin among others, is a monoclonal antibody used to treat breast cancer and stomach cancer. It is specifically used for cancer that is HER2 receptor positive. It may be used by itself or together with other chemotherapy medication. Trastuzumab is given by slow injection into a vein and injection just under the skin.
Trudie Styler is an English actress, director, and film producer.
Breast Men is a 1997 American, semibiographical, dark comedy drama film; it was written by John Stockwell and directed by Lawrence O'Neil for HBO.
Lapatinib (INN), used in the form of lapatinib ditosylate (USAN) is an orally active drug for breast cancer and other solid tumours. It is a dual tyrosine kinase inhibitor which interrupts the HER2/neu and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathways. It is used in combination therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer. It is used for the treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic breast cancer whose tumors overexpress HER2 (ErbB2).
Tammy Blanchard is an American actress. She rose to prominence for her role as teenage Judy Garland in the critically acclaimed television film Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (2001), for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination and a Primetime Emmy Award. Her other notable film roles were in The Good Shepherd (2006), Sybil (2007), Into the Woods (2014) and The Invitation (2015).
The 60th Annual Tony Awards were held at Radio City Music Hall on June 11, 2006. The award ceremony was broadcast live on the CBS television network in the United States. The 2006 Tony Awards did not feature a host, but instead over 60 stars presented awards at the ceremony.
Josep Baselga i Torres, known in Spanish as José Baselga, was a Spanish medical oncologist and researcher focused on the development of novel molecular targeted agents, with a special emphasis in breast cancer. Through his career he was associated with the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology, and the Massachusetts General Hospital in their hematology and oncology divisions. He led the development of the breast cancer treatment Herceptin, a monoclonal antibody, that targets the HER2 protein, which is impacted in aggressive breast cancers.
Daniel Frederick Ireland was an American-Canadian film producer and director. He was the co-founder of the Seattle International Film Festival. Ireland began executive-producing films for Vestron Pictures in the 1980s, his first being John Huston's final feature, The Dead (1987). He also executive-produced multiple films by director Ken Russell, such as Salome's Last Dance (1987), The Lair of the White Worm (1988), The Rainbow (1989), and Whore (1991).
Lilly Tartikoff Karatz is an American activist, socialite, restaurateur and fundraiser for breast cancer.
What a Night! A Christmas Album, by American singer, pianist and bandleader Harry Connick Jr., was released on November 4, 2008., being his third Christmas album, since 1993's When My Heart Finds Christmas and 2003's Harry for the Holidays. The album consists of new recordings of Christmas classics, and new songs written by Connick.
Robert Bazell is adjunct professor of Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale University. He is the former chief science and health correspondent for NBC News.
Dennis Joseph Slamon, is an American oncologist and chief of the division of Hematology-Oncology at UCLA. He is best known for his work identifying the HER2/neu oncogene that is amplified in 25–33% of breast cancer patients and the resulting treatment trastuzumab.
1 a Minute is a 2010 American docudrama film written and directed by Indian American actress Namrata Singh Gujral. It is based on her own life and the lives of other women who suffered from cancer.
Jonathan S. Berek, MD MMS is the Laurie Kraus Lacob Professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine, Director of the Stanford Women's Cancer Center, and Senior Advisor, Stanford Cancer Institute. He is a recent past Fellow in the Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute.
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