The Karen Carpenter Story: The lives of Karen and Richard Carpenter are examined, from pre-stardom to fame, fortune, eating disorders, and drug abuse.

This is a TV movie from 1989. It should not be confused with the short film of a similar name made with Barbvie dolls which, for one reason or another, seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. It starts off with Karen's death and then goes back to the pre-stardom teen days and works its way to a nice, warm, happy, hopeful, mushy, stupid ending. It basically goes nowhere and has no point. It does, however, prove that 25-year-old actors just don't make good teenagers. If your mother sang "Close To You" every night before kissing you good-night during your pre-school years (as mine did) then this movie might have some nostalgic value for you. If your mother sang "Close To You" every night before kissing you good-night during your high-school years, then you are probably warped enough to actually enjoy this movie.

Mitchell Anderson plays Richard Carpenter, of course. Critics from TV Guide and Time say he gives a pretty good performance. The whole things screams "TV Movie!" to me and I just can't get past that. But I suppose he is as good or better than everybody else in the movie.