The protagonist Cheryl Wilton is played by Alexandra Paul, who deserves a "Lifetime" achievement award for her work in so many cable melodramas. In "Saving Emily," Paul plays the devoted mother of a girl with leukemia who is in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant. The only possible candidate is Cheryl's lout of an ex-husband named Kurt Bradford.

Kurt is one of the sleaziest characters imaginable. During his marriage to Cheryl, he squandered the money of Cheryl's wealthy Uncle Theo. He never wanted a child and showed no affection to little Emily. He was also abusive to Cheryl. After he killed a man and demanded that Cheryl provide him with an alibi, she raced out of the house with daughter Emily in tow. Kurt subsequently spent eight years in prison, and he never forgave Cheryl.

Fast forward ten years, and Cheryl visits Kurt, asking him to save the life of their daughter. Kurt is in now debt to a local mob boss to the tune of $600,000, and that is his asking price for the procedure. There ensues a wild set of negotiations with Cheryl and her husband Greg desperately trying to come up with the funds.

The film is held together by the wonderful performance of Alexandra Paul, who hits all the right notes in her portrayal of a mother, wife, and super negotiator with the ex-husband from hell. The filmmakers remarkably were able to squeeze an ounce of sympathy out of the repellent character of Kurt. The best scene in the film was the climactic transaction in the hospital where the dying Kurt returns the wedding ring to Cheryl and donates the bone marrow to Emily. The act of kindness of Kurt Bradford was a genuine moment of bathos worthy of an eight-star rating.

This is a typical made-for-TV movie, so holding it to the standards of some major studio production is hardly appropriate. It's not quite as predictable as some reviewers say, although the ending can be seen from a long way off. But the plot keeps the action moving nicely. Michael Riley makes a very good villain--not some menacing, snarling, sadistic uber-villain but a just a typical small-time crook, totally self-centred and certain he's a much cooler person than everyone else who lives in the "square" world. Little Annie Boivaird can be very charming with her heart-melting smile; giving her a little larger part in the film would have been a good idea. Because Alexandra Paul is in front of the camera for most of the film, she should have been rounded out as a character more so we could see her as something more than just the worried mother. You don't want to go out and buy this on DVD, but if it comes up on television, and you have nothing else to do, it's better than a lot else that's on.

***SPOILERS*** Way way over the top "Times running out to save a little girl's life" Lifetime Movie that has 11 year old cancer or leukemia victim cute little Emily Wilton, Annie Bovaird, needing a life saving bone morrow transplant from her estranged poppa ex-convict Kurt Bradford, Michael Riley, before time and life runs out for her.

It's Emily's mom Kurt's ex-wife Cheryl, Alexandra Paul, who comes up with the idea of contacting him after both her and her husband Emily's step-father Greg, Bruce Boxlitner, came up empty in them being suitable donors! As for Kurt himself he's not at all that happy to see Cheryl who left him literally with his pants down, or with no pants at all, together with little Emily ten years ago by not standing by him when he wanted her to back up his alibi that he wasn't at the scene of a homicide that he committed while he was high both on booze and illegal drugs.

Kurt at first not at all interested in helping Cheryl and her husband save their, as well as his, little girl's life he gets ideas when he's told by local Mafia loan-shark Russo, Chuck Shamata, to come up with the $600,000.00 he owes him or he'll end up as dead as a door nail in the space, the time that Rosso gave him to come up with the cash, of four days! Seeng dollar signs in his bone morrow that was tested positive for Emily's bone transplant operation Kurt plays a hard bargain in wanting the Wilton's to come up with the money,the 600 G's, before the curtain drops on him and he gets wasted by the Rosso Mob!

****SPOIERS**** Very predictable ending with Kurt knowing he's got nothing to lose has a sudden change of heart in doing the right thing in having his unique bone morrow donated to his biological daughter Emily just before he kicked off! That's after he was involved in a wild shootout with Rosso and his hit-man Carlton, Vitor Cornfoot, at his deserted pad where he was holding Emily and her mom both hostage until Greg Wilton came up with the cash he so desperately needed to pay Rosso the debt that he owed him.

You saw all this,the so-called surprise ending,coming as soon as it became apparent that Emily needed a bone morrow transplant operation that only her natural father Kurt Bradford could provide to her. Still you couldn't feel any kind of sympathy for Kurt in that he put money before his stricken and dying daughter and only came to his senses when he knew he didn't have long to live, after being shot by hit-man Carlton, and consented to have his bone morrow donated to Emily. That since within minutes after his bone morrow donation Kurt by being soon declared dead on arrival at the local hospital, that just came in handy to do the emergency bone morrow operation, didn't need it or the $600,000,00 he wanted for it anyway!