DVD Release Date:  May 6, 2008
Television Premiere Date:  December 9, 2007
Rating:  Not Rated
Genre:  Drama
Run Time:  92 min.
Director:  Lloyd Cramer
Actors:  Michael Imperioli, Ellen Burstyn, Vadim Imperioli, Samantha Mathis

Charley Benetto (Michael Imperioli) just wants it all to be over.  Although he once achieved his (and his father’s) dream of playing in the World Series, Charley is now just a washed-up salesman who can’t stop drinking.  His wife, from whom Charley is separated, is furious and his daughter won’t speak to him.  And he’s still haunted by his father’s rare comings-and-goings, which began when he was a child.

So Charley grabs a gun, gets himself liquored up and heads to the local dug-out to finish the job—right before he’s hit by an oncoming truck.  Somehow, though injured, he makes it back to the dugout, where he spots his mother (Ellen Burstyn) across the field.  Mystified, Charley goes to his childhood home, where he finds the key, just where it used to be.  He goes inside.  There, he’s assaulted with childhood memories. 

In the midst of this reverie, Charley’s mother walks in the door.  He can’t believe it, of course, but as the day progresses—and the two spend time together—he realizes that she has, indeed, come back from the dead.  And maybe, just maybe, she can save her son from the same fate.

Author Mitch Albom is a very popular writer, and ever since his mega- success with Tuesdays with Morrie, he’s sold millions of books.  As with many best-selling authors, however, he’s not a literary light—and For One More Day is no exception.  Because Albom penned this script, therefore, don’t expect Oscar-winning dialogue.  Lines like “I couldn’t have hurt her more if I had tried,” abound.

Director Lloyd Cramer, who cut his teeth on an ABC “After School Special,” has focused exclusively on TV for his career.  He’s worked with Oprah Winfrey several times, and also directed her last Albom production (The Five People You Meet in Heaven).  So it’s not surprising that this has far more of a television feel to it than a feature film.  It’s very disjointed until about halfway through, making some of the sequences confusing, but everything makes sense by the end.  In the meantime, the film tends to amble along, driving home its teaching points, without anything to make it really stand out—although nothing to provoke groans, either.