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Ed Gold is an underappreciated underwriter for Brewster Financial
Services, and he’s in a rut. His bills are behind, his paperboy
keeps throwing the morning edition into the sprinklers, and he
feels like a nobody. To top it all off, his wife, Gwen wants him
to ask for a raise. He knows he won’t get it, but he’s resolved
himself to asking. His boss, Mr. Norris, is even less eager to
help, than he is to remember Ed’s name. But with a little angelic
intervention, in the form of Monica as the new PR person, Norris
is only too eager to show his willingness to invest in his
employees. And as his boss goes off to put in a request with
payroll, Ed feels like a new man. To celebrate, he heads home to
spend his lunch hour with Gwen.
Near the side of the road, amongst the hills, and deep in the
earth, a silver mine is set to collapse. As its supports buckle,
a dog breaks away from his owner, chasing the sound of the
stressed supports. Once he’s in the mine, his owner, Marla has no
choice but to go in after him, cutting short her afternoon run.
But now that she’s inside, the mine grows even more unsettled and
Marla makes a mistake. She leans against one of the beams to
steady herself, causing a cave-in. When the dust settles, she’s
trapped under the debris with no help in sight. Unseen, however,
Andrew waits with her.
On his way home, Ed sees a dog, barking madly, outside of an
abandoned mine. He eventually grasps the situation and calls
911. As he waits for help to arrive, he becomes more frantic
about the person trapped inside, and with only a moment’s
hesitation, he hurries inside to lend a hand. Once he finds
Marla, though, another cave-in begins and Ed must throw his
shoulder into a beam to keep it from falling. He feels that he
has to stay that way until help arrives, despite Marla’s
assurances that there’s an angel with them. He doesn’t believe
her, and maintains his Herculean feat for five and a half hours.
By the time the rescue is complete, Ed is a bona-fide hero, and
Marla is forgotten. As the days pass and Ed’s fame grows, Marla
loses her leg and begins physical therapy. The man that Ed was,
the kind who would risk himself for others, changes into a glory
hound, too concerned with his image to actually do things to help
others, and too self involved to notice anyone else. He spends
his days on the phone, trying to keep on top of his celebrity
status or convincing Monica to set up appearances for him. He
neglects his marriage, and ignores his job. And as his fame
begins to fade, he becomes even more frantic to resurrect it, so
much so that he tries to use Marla’s misfortune to his advantage,
and fails to keep Gwen from walking out on him. When he hits the
bottom of the barrel, he heads back to the mine to challenge the
Angel that Marla insisted was there. Andrew appears with Monica
and help Ed to realize that he was a good man before, and his
desire to help a stranger was more valuable than fame ever could
be. Sobered, Ed heads back to the hospital, where he apologizes
to Marla, and reconciles with his wife.
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