Swimming Upstream

本片主要講述了高中生莫瑞斯是學校的體育健將，同時他的學習成績也是名列前茅，尤其是文學修養，得到老師極高的評價。新學期莫瑞斯獲得了學校頒發的榮譽獎，成為全班僅有的兩名獲得獎學金的學生。

然而命運卻捉弄了莫瑞斯，他被診斷出患有急性白血病，需要住院治療。女友朱莉非常難過，但她卻在莫瑞斯面前表現出驚人的勇敢。莫瑞斯和父親的關係一直不太融洽，從母親去世開始，父親就經常酗酒，莫瑞斯認為父親對他和姐姐桑德拉漠不關心。現在莫瑞斯生病了，他需要來自親人的鼓勵和理解。然而他和父親之間卻總是像隔着一層，無法真正對彼此敞開心扉。

面對疾病起初莫瑞斯選擇了逃避，他並沒有按主治醫生的要求去做，而是進行大運動量的活動，導致病情惡化。出院後的莫瑞斯被要求只能留在家中或做一些類似散步的活動，以防止感染細菌。父親與莫瑞斯談心，並講述了他和妻子之間鮮為人知的故事。莫瑞斯開始重新審視眼前這個生養自己卻從沒有用心去了解過的父親，同時也體會到父愛的博大。

莫瑞斯生病期間，朱莉一直陪伴在他身邊，給他鼓勵和安慰。兩個年輕人共同經歷了這一段坎坷的生活，即使在莫瑞斯生命垂危的時候，朱莉也始終不離不棄。家人和朋友的愛讓莫瑞斯重新站立了起來，他勇敢地和病魔做鬥爭，儘管誰也不知道結局會是怎樣，但只要有他們的陪伴，莫瑞斯就不會輕言放棄。 ^[3] 

The scrapbook of most teenagers shows family members and friends at a picnic, at the high school basketball game, at Disneyland. Morris Bird III's, however, paints a different picture. This happy-go-lucky, all-American kid whose only wish in life is to get laid by his cute, but hesitant girlfriend suddenly faces terminal cancer, bringing painful and difficult issues to the surface. Picture an alcoholic father, played by Michael Moriarty, whose devotion to the bottle and mastery of self-pity keeps him from communicating with his son and daughter. Picture a teenage boy whose English teacher encourages him to write; he's eloquent, full of passion for life, and is the type of free-spirit who goes against the grain, walking up on the wrong side of the escalator. Picture a best friend, played by Ben Savage, who may not be the most mature person in the world, but his support makes up for that. Then there's a sister who nurses the wounds felt from living in a fractured family. Now try to imagine a mother who died when Morris was five; her picture is missing and the only way to get a complete sense of her is through the alcoholic father. In a moving, honest scene at the end, Morris Bird II gives Morris Bird III the truth and then some. He offers his love and desire to have a relationship with his son, giving this young man completion before he succumbs to his tragic fate.Written by John Howard ^[2]