Sutherland’s ‘Mask’ Recalls ‘Bill,’ ‘Rain Man’

Over four years in development, the CBS movie “Behind the Mask” is based on a story that appeared in The Times in 1994, chronicling a difficult but ultimately rewarding relationship between Dr. Robert Shushan, the director of a center for the mentally disabled, and James Jones, a client at the center.

If that brief description calls up recollections of “Bill” or “Rain Man,” it’s not surprising, because the subject matter is clearly similar. And there’s a further connection: Both “Bill” (which won an Emmy) and “Rain Man” (which won an Oscar) were written by Barry Morrow, co-executive producer of “Behind the Mask,” which airs on Sunday at 9 p.m.

Despite the implicit drama in the richly complex friendship between Shushan (played by Donald Sutherland) and Jones (played by Matthew Fox)--a personal association clearly comparable to the relationships in “Bill” and “Rain Man”--the promise of the story is never quite delivered in the playing out of the script.

A parallel thematic thread, obviously added to make the story a more workable television movie, establishes an unfulfilled emotional connection between the workaholic Shushan and his son, Brian (Bradley White). It also makes for some distracting moments, marred by the sullen lack of communication with which White approaches the role.

Yet another distracting story thread, related to Shushan’s problems with the center’s management, becomes unraveled by the cardboard character nature of the board members who are attempting to remove Shushan from his position.

On the plus side, Sutherland gives one of his predictably first-rate performances. Using body language, facial expressions, vocal articulation and superb timing, he brings Shushan to life, often while speaking lines drenched with exposition rather than believable emotional communication.

Fox, in his TV movie debut, makes a bit more problematic presentation. In part because of the script, in part because of a production decision, he plays his mentally disabled role with wild variations. Granted that in Jones’ case, his behavior did indeed range from articulateness to incoherence, the rendering of this central role nonetheless would have benefited from a sharper focus and a more convincing sense of who the character really is.

Call “Behind the Mask” a promise that doesn’t quite deliver. And one can only wonder what the difference might have been if Morrow, responsible for the highly effective “Rain Man” and “Bill” scripts, had set aside his producing chores in favor of a writer’s keyboard.

* “Behind the Mask” airs on CBS Sunday at 9 p.m. The network has rated it TV-PG.