Up Close & Personal is a 1996 American motion picture drama/romance that was inspired by the story of Jessica Savitch who, in the 1970s, became the first female anchor on American television. The film is based on the 1988 book, Golden Girl: The Story of Jessica Savitch by Alanna Nash.

The making of the film is told in the book: Monster: Living Off the Big Screen, (1997), by John Gregory Dunne, one of the two screenwriters for the movie. The book relays how a movie about Jessica Savitch to some degree turned into A Star is Born-type film, where one person is a "rising star" while that person's love interest becomes a "falling star". To quote a spokesperson for the Disney company, who released the film, to Entertainment Weekly magazine, "Only a cold-blooded sadist would want to see a historically accurate movie about the tragedy of Jessica Savitch".

The film is noted for the use of the hit song "Because You Loved Me" performed by Celine Dion.

This movie is sometimes assigned to journalism ethics classes because of some ethical dilemmas that are seen in the movie as well as the filmmakers’ accuracy in portraying realistic journalism encounters.

Up Close & Personal provides an inside look of television news. One of the ethical dilemmas first seen in this movie questions the idea of sending in a fake demo tape/resume to land a job at a TV station. Later in the movie, the reporter confesses to the news director about her resume in which the news director already presumed was fake but decided to give her a chance thinking that if she wanted it so much, she must have something. This becomes ethical in a sense where fraud is highly unprincipled especially in this field where journalists are obligated to truth. Also, the likelihood that this occurs in real-life is something that filmmakers should consider.

Another ethical view pointed out in this movie suggests that it’s easier to become a successful journalist when looks are more appealing to the viewers. As seen in the movie, Pfeiffer’s character went through various makeovers in order to fit the image of first-rate news anchor. Although it may seem plausible that having attractive people on television will attract more viewers, it becomes an ethical matter in journalism because reporters may end up losing their true identity and speculation might arise that in order to make it as a journalist, you need to look good, which may not always be true.

An important thing to also take into consideration is that this movie was originally supposed to be about the life of the late broadcaster, Jessica Savitch. Instead, the storyline became a fictionalized version of it and turned into a love story. This becomes important because of the ethical considerations filmmakers need to go through in portraying accurate accounts of what journalists do.

Other ethical dilemmas seen in the movie also involves arguing on air, the love affair between two journalists and the reporting during a prison riot. Some ethical questions that might arise are the likelihood that these events occur in real-life. Although movies are generally fictional, this becomes a topic of concern because it may give viewers a mistaken image of what journalism is supposed to be.