Rachel: Adult-Child of an Alcoholic

Melodramatic dialogue and cheesy music are the hallmarks of this well-meaning but extremely banal short, which opens MTV-style with a woman (Rachel) who appears to down a glass of water (tequila ?, liquid tranquilizer?), falls into bed, and then onto the floor, and finally into a dream, where she is visited by her father (who apologizes for killing himself and her mother in an alcohol-induced car accident). Stumbling upon a support group, Rachel realizes that--in true Susan Hayward fashion--she "wants to live" and that means "taking care of the child that lives within us all." Coming to, Rachel calls her boyfriend, and rejoins the world, apparently transformed, "letting go of the past, and learning to live for today." A trivial treatment of a painful topic, this is not recommended. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)