While Michael lies comatose his mother makes a deal with Nancy she’ll pay for a plastic surgeon (Laurence Luckinbill) to repair her appearance as long as she agrees never to make contact with Michael again.
Michael and Nancy decide to proceed with their wedding plans anyways, but then get into a car accident that completely disfigures Nancy’s face. He wants to marry Nancy (Kathleen Quinlan) who has a troubled past, but Michael’s mother (Beatrice Straight) does not approve and tries to prevent it. "The Promise" is best described as 'icky'.Michael Hillyard (Stephen Collins) is from a rich background and set to take over his family’s thriving business. The performers (Stephen Collins, Beatrice Straight, and most especially Quinlan) are reduced to dummy-level, while a mind-boggling romantic song (Oscar-nominated!) wails away on the soundtrack. Alas, it takes itself far too seriously-and is far too strenuous-to be any fun. Perhaps nimble handling, some self-effacing humor, or even a knowingly camp undermining might have saved the film. Quinlan spends the first 30 minutes of the picture in an ill-fitting wig, a false nose and funny teeth still, she isn't changed THAT much after surgery! For the movie to work even on the most basic of levels, the audience is required to completely suspend their disbelief-whilst throwing logic and credibility out the window.
Sad to say, it's an obvious throwback to the 'woman's weepies' of the 1940s, hopelessly out-of-date and out-of-touch.
Young couple in New England, on their way to get hitched despite the groom-to-be's disapproving mama, are involved in a horrible car accident the man lapses into a short coma, during which time his mother sends his disfigured girlfriend to the West Coast for extensive plastic surgery on her face-providing she never contact her fiancé again! Will they eventually cross paths, and will he recognize her if they do? Hard to believe anyone with any self-respect will care, especially after an excruciating opening: a lyrical montage of 'coupling' culminating in a love-pact made on a cliff overlooking the sea! After her triumphant performance in 1977's "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden" failed to make her a star, Kathleen Quinlan probably saw this cornball venture as an opportunity to break into the big-time.
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