A&E (Mon., Jan, 10, 8 p.m. ET)
The costar of Dumb and Dumber playing the father of our country in a TV movie about a key engagement in the Revolutionary War? Is this the latest example of the "dumbing down" of America? Not so, fellow citizens. As Gen. George Washington urging his ragtag troops across the Delaware River, Jeff Daniels exhibits the profile of a peerless leader. I never realized his chin was so assertive. But Daniels does more than strike heroic poses. He portrays Washington as fallible, sometimes irritable, and only too aware that his daring plan to attack the fearsome Hessian force at Trenton, N.J., might be recorded as the rebellion's last gasp. Howard Fast's teleplay (based on his 1971 book) is a bit windy in spots, but The Crossing succeeds in bringing history to life.
Bottom Line: Catch the spirit of 76
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