Nicholas' Gift


Nicholas' Gift is a 1998 drama television film directed by Robert Markowitz and written by Christine Berardo. A co-production between Italy and the United States, it stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Alan Bates as an American couple who, after their son was mortally wounded during a family vacation in Italy, decide to donate the child's organs. The film received positive reviews and earned Curtis a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her performance.

Plot

Nicholas' Gift is a fact based drama about an American couple on vacation in Italy in 1994 with their two children who are attacked and shot by highway bandits. Shortly they discover that their son is brain dead. The parents are then faced with the hard decision to donate the boy's organs which ultimately led to saving the lives of seven seriously ill Italian patients.

Cast

Reception

Critical response

Tom Jicha of the Sun-Sentinel was very positive about the film, describing it as "a wonderfully poignant movie that conveys an important message worthy of the widest possible circulation." In his review for The New York Times, Rick Lyman wrote that "a veteran cast pushing a commendable message is not quite enough to elevate Nicholas' Gift above being a by-the-numbers tear-jerker." The Deseret News praised the film for "superb performances by Jamie Lee Curtis and Alan Bates, tight steering by an award-winning director, an Italian crew schooled in feature film making, an intelligent script based on a riveting real-life story, and an almost religious commitment from everyone involved in the project to make a film worthy of its subjects."