BY MARGARET A. McGURK
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Fatal illnesses make rich fodder for drama. But it isn't sickness that makes Marvin's Room special.

Its strength comes from vibrant, close-to-the bone acting, particularly by Diane Keaton in her Oscar-nominated role.

She plays Bessie, a middle-aged daughter who has devoted years to caring for her speechless, incapacitated father, Marvin (Hume Cronyn), and her sweet, dotty Aunt Ruth (Gwen Verdon).

After Bessie learns she has leukemia, she reluctantly asks her estranged sister Lee (Meryl Streep) to be tested as a potential bone-marrow donor. Lee brings along her two sons, Charlie (Hal Scardino) and Hank (Leonardo DiCaprio), a volatile teen-ager given to arson and sudden disappearances.

The sisters' relationship is bristly; they couldn't be less alike -- Lee is brash and ambitious, Bessie is retiring and selfless -- and they bear the burden of a life at odds.

Medical crisis forces them to come to some kind of terms, a process complicated by their varying relations with the other family members. Comic relief comes, surprisingly, from Robert De Niro as Bessie's doctor and Dan Hedaya as the doctor's brother.

The story, based on the late Scott McPherson's 1991 play, is poignant and painful by turns. The tremendous cast -- pound for pound, the most talented on film within the last year -- steers away from melodrama by force of their insightful performances.

Good as they are, none delivers a portrayal as honest, pure and inspired as Ms. Keaton's. She expunges every familiar mannerism in service of a righteously authentic character, a woman whose fear and anger are no match for her inner strength.

Ms. Keaton has said she lobbied the makers of Marvin's Room ferociously to win the part. It must have been a passionate effort, if the work we see on screen is any measure. As the heart of Marvin's Room, she shows herself to be a superb actress at the top of her form.