Never Tell Me Never
This movie, based on a true story, was only produced for TV. Luckily, it was broadcasted last week; I had never heard of the cast, the director or the title of the movie before. But still, after watching it, I must recognize that it’s a nice movie, nothing special about the realization but I greatly admire the story-line, the interpretation and the numerous country side views of Australia!
“Never Tell Me Never” is based on an autobiographical book by the same name written by Janine Shepherd, a woman whose life falls upside down in one day following a severe accident. Two thumbs up for Claudia Karvan in her role of Janine Shepherd; Claudia is an achieved Australian actress who contributed to dozens of movies and TV series in her country. She also plays a small role in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
The plot: After several months of hard-work, Janine succeeds in joining the Australian Cross-Country Skiing Team and is on her way to grab a medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. During her extensive training, she is hit by a car and severely injured. According to doctors, her chances of surviving are slight; however, she survives and stands partially paralyzed in a hospital where she knows that she’ll never be able to ski again. Some doctors even doubt her chances of walking again or ever having children. Janine wants to get back on her feet and refuses the facts, just as she did before the accident, never acknowledging to give-up in a skiing competition, up to the stage of stubbornness and against the advice of her coach. Thus, she decides not to use her wheel chair anymore. In the process of rehabilitation, she meets wonderful people that help her in her recovery; people like Uncle Darryl, a nurse at the hospital, and a doctor that contributed to the rescue operation, Dr. Adrian Cohen, not to forget the constant support of her parents. Weeks after she’s out of the hospital, she launches a new challenge on herself: learning to fly light planes…
The story of Janine Shepherd is a source as inspiration as I see it. Her achievements as a skiing champion and later on as a distinguished flying pilot and public speaker proved that armed with strong-will, someone can achieve anything. Today, Janine lives in Sydney, married and mother of three children – doctors were wrong here too!
Unless you live in Australia, you’ll have a hard time finding a TV station broadcasting the movie. So you should think about getting the DVD or else buying the book somewhere online. You could also content yourself with the few screenshots below I was able to collect.
Official Web Site of Janine Shepherd
