April 8, 1996 -- ``Up Close and Personal'' stars Robert Redford as the aging, cantankerous, savvy news director of a Miami television station and Michelle Pfieffer as the rising star reporter/anchor. Right, it is ``A Star is Born'' meets ``Broadcast News.''

It is pretty well done for a formula Hollywood film. It has a good script and solid acting by Pfieffer and Redford. There is a nice relationship between the two characters, with Redford being the mentor. The film does give the viewer a good feel for the broadcast news business, but some details are wrong.

You don't, for instance, go straight from a community college to a major market station like Pfieffer does. The subplot about news people battling with management and media advisers for hard, versus soft news is right on the mark.

The story runs true until it takes a melodramatic nosedive involving a prison riot and jungle shootout, but it works well enough the rest of the time. It rates a C+.

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