300 Miles for Stephanie (1981 TV Movie) User Reviews

Will Bring Tears of Heartbreak and Joy

[rhoward-14 · 7/10 · 12 May 2006]

In my view, this is Tony Orlando's Best Acting Role, playing the Father of a Little Girl stricken with a Terminal Disease. He implores God to Please Let Me Have Her to Love Her Just a Little Bit Longer, and doggedly determines to Run 300 Miles to Pray for his Daughter at a Religious Temple. A Wonderful Film, as he sets out alone and is eventually joined by a throng of hundreds of well-wishers and supporters, who show him little acts of kindness in his undeniable Quest. This Movie is a Triumph of Love. It demonstrates the unquenchable human spirit of a Father, determined to help defeat his own despair, if only to have a chance at a miracle of beating his daughter's illness.

apparently the story was somewhat changed.

[grandmabrat · 9/10 · 3 September 2018]

I was there when this really happened. Stephanie was born with handicaps and the doctors said she would not live past 5 or 6 years old. When her next birthday was coming up, her father decided to do a 7 day run to thank God for letting her live that long. He arranged it to end on her birthday. The story was in the papers in San Antonio and the whole town was proud of him, and admiring. He was a loving father to a handicapped child. I guess the movie makers did not understand that.

Like being hit over the head with a Hallmark Card made of brick.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 15 June 2023]

Yes, there's something very touching about this "father love" true story, the true account of a San Antonio cop trying to find peace as he comes to grips with the reality of his young daughter's potential death from a fatal illness. On paper, it seemed like a good idea as in local newspapers, it did get a lot of attention. Tony Orlando does his best at bringing out all of this father's angst, but the teleplay is maudlin and overwrought in the way it tells the story, lacking any subtlety and desperate to pull the tears out of the viewer.

There have been lots of movies and plays covering the subject matter of ailing children with all types of illnesses and chances of surviving, but the best ones ("A Time to Live" with Liza Minnelli, "Lorenzo's Oil" with Susan Sarandon) didn't go overboard in making the watcher feel sympathy. Orlando's character is flawed, taking his anger out on his wife both verbally and physically (hitting her out in the open, causing HER to apologize), and the frenzy leading up to his run just feels forced. Peter Graves as his boss made me giggle, and he's not supposed to. After a while after listening to the sobby music score, I tuned out my emotions because I was tired of being told I had to cry...or else.