Blick in den Abgrund

Farrah Fawcett's Emmy-nominated performance is the centerpiece of SMALL SACRIFICES, a riveting, ABC mini-series based on the true story of Diane Downs, a cold-blooded woman who was sent to jail for murdering two of her three children. This teleplay presents Downs as the lonely, divorced working mother of three who appears on the outside to be a devoted and loving mother but as no qualms about putting her own needs first when the opportunity presents itself. While working at a post office, Diane begins a romance with one of her co-workers, Lew Lewiston (Ryan O'Neal)and things are going well until Diane learns that Lew doesn't like kids and has no desire to be a stepfather so Diane decides to kill her children. Fortunately, her daughter, somehow survives the brutal shooting and is taken into protective custody not only to protect her from further harm by her mother but to use her to help build a case to convict her mother. Fawcett gives the performance of her career...an icy, heartless bitch who shouts of her innocence throughout the proceedings, even though all evidence points to her and has the nerve to be baffled by the fact that her daughter wants nothing to do with her. O'Neal's role here is more in the way of stunt casting as he was Fawcett's real life romance at the time and is wasted in a thankless role, but there are two solid performances from John Shea and Gordon Clapp as the two police detectives caught in the deadly cat and mouse game of trying to slip Diane up in order to nail her for this horrendous crime. Despite it's almost three-hour length, I found this movie fascinating from start to finish, thanks primarily to a powerhouse performance from Farrah Fawcett who got the role of her career and ran with it.

I had read the book, and have to say the movie, for the most part, is very similar and is just done very well. Everything from the acting, to the directing etc etc, is superb. This movie is, sadly, a true story. It stands at 4 hours or so but it always keeps your interest. Farrah Fawcett loses herself in her character, and I have to say, I don't see how this movie can be watched, without the watcher coming away with a very healthy respect for Ms. Fawcett.This true life story is so disturbing, the thought has to flash through your mind whether you can sit through a 4 hour drama about it, and although of coarse some scenes are extremely difficult to watch, as you'd expect them to be, this movie is not something you can turn away from once it's on and is both shocking and horrifying.

It is directed and acted on a level as good as major big screen releases and the character development is great as well. There isn't one bad piece of acting in the movie and this Is the best I've ever seen Fawcett.

... and that's not to say that the rest of the production and cast are not top notch.

The film starts with Diane Downs (Farrah Fawcett) arriving at the hospital with a bullet in her arm and her three children seriously wounded. The fact is that the middle child is already dead, but that is not known at this point. Diane tells a tale of a "bushy haired stranger" who came up to her while she was parked on a lonely road, said he wanted to steal her car, and then just shot her and her children. The police are called in to begin investigating as well as one ADA Frank Joziak (John Shea). But as the investigation continues there are inconsistencies in Diane's story and suspicion begins to fall more on her. Her two surviving children, have injuries that will last a lifetime. Robby, 3, will be permanently paralyzed from the waist down. The oldest daughter, Karen, 8, is old enough to say what happened, but she has had a stroke from blood loss and cannot speak. This may or may not resolve with time. When Diane comes to her bedside and speaks to the unconscious sedated girl, her pulse and blood pressure rise dramatically, indicating she is fearful. Why?

All of the performances were good here, especially the child actress playing Karen, whose account of what happened that night is of key importance. But Farrah Fawcett is extraordinary portraying the complex sociopath Diane Downs who wants what she wants when she wants it. She is clingy, rather scary when told No, and lies like a carpet to the point I think that she believed her lies. For example, she says she gave up medical school for her married ex-lover when she is in fact a high school dropout who couldn't concentrate long enough to get through night school.

The earliest thing I remember seeing Farrah Fawcett doing was "Murder on Flight 502" in 1975, and she wasn't very good in it. Or more precisely, she just had no presence. 14 years later her performance makes this film.

I watched Small Sacrifices again just recently after many years. Farrah Fawcett should have got an Emmy for that portrayal of Diane Downs. Her performance in this mini-series is incredible and the fact that the mini-series follows the book closely. Ann Rule's book of this horrible crime leaves you wanting more. So much that I reread the book again. Farrah should be honored for such a fabulous performance. Just watch her in the Burning Bed as a battered wife. Farrah Fawcett headlines Small Sacrifices but everybody else in the film including John Shea who plays the District Attorney and her then real-life lover, Ryan O'Neal, plays Diane Down's married lover who does not want children and would help the police convict his former lover. Ryan, John, and even Gordon Clapp are all wonderful and memorable in their roles. They do not make television mini-series like they used to anymore with cable making the movies for television. If this film was released in the cinema, Farrah would have been nominated for an Oscar for this role. She probably would have won the award!

Today, we've been true-crimed to death. Yet, this story was one of the firsts of it's kind and not to mention the best. Akin to Burning Bed, Fawcett rings in an absolute superb performance as she realistically and accurately portrays the sociopath known as Diane Downs. The movie carefully plots the turn of events without over dramatizing. The moving portrayal of Christie Downs (known as Karen Downs in the series) is quite haunting. Many true crime dramas leave me with a taste of ratings-desperation in my mouth. The focus of these are not feelings but instead dramatic effects. This series however was much different. What you find here is Diane's self-centeredness and apparent inability to feel sorrow contrasted with a child who, even without speaking, manages to convey a fear of her mother as well as true love for her in a very tender heart wrenching way. While this description may very well sound overly dramatic it truly isn't. This is just such a well made series. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.