Humanitarian, lecturer and "Saturday Review" editor, Norman Cousins' controversial decision in the mid-1960's to cure himself of a debilitating spinal disorder after the medical community gave up hope provides the thrust of this dramatization of his book. Despite the physical disparity between Cousi

Humanitarian, lecturer and "Saturday Review" editor, Norman Cousins' controversial decision in the mid-1960's to cure himself of a debilitating spinal disorder after the medical community gave up hope provides the thrust of this dramatization of his book. Despite the physical disparity between Cousins and himself, Ed Asner offers a convincing portrait (as, ironically, Jeff Goldblum had done playing Ernie Kovacs only the night before when the Kovacs TV-movie premiered) of a man taking drastic measures to regain control of his life. Cousins' steadfast friends, his personal physician, Dr. William Hitzig, and fellow author Cleveland Amory, are portrayed by Eli Wallach and David Ogden Stiers.