Up Close & Personal

Up Close & Personal (1996) is a romantic drama directed by Jon Avnet that you can watch online on iFILM, starring Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer. She's Tally Atwater — small-market, self-taught, arriving at a Miami TV station with nothing but a homemade demo reel. He's Warren Justice, a veteran newsman who's reported from every war zone that mattered.

Warren spots real talent in Tally and takes her on as his protégée. Her rise is fast — faster than his. Each assignment pulls her closer to the national spotlight and further from the man who built her career. The script, by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, was loosely drawn from the life of anchor Jessica Savitch.

What keeps this 119-minute film from sliding into formula is that both leads feel like journalists first, lovers second — the profession shapes the relationship as much as it endangers it. Pfeiffer anchors the film with a performance that outpaces the genre. Stream Up Close & Personal (1996) online on iFILM.