Mom's the word at 'One'

Party comes before preem of emotional pic

By BILL HIGGINS

Though screenwriter Karen Croner said "One True Thing" isn't "about death; it's a movie about a daughter being brought to life as she just gets to know - and then loses - her mother," the pic is so profoundly emotional Universal took the precaution of having Wednesday's premiere party before the screening at Cineplex Odeon Century City.

"I think people go through a deep personal experience that's not something you want to party after," said producer Jesse Beaton. "We want to give the audience time to run to a phone and call their mothers."

Among the 1,000 guests gaining a new appreciation of mom (and raising over $120,000 for Big Sisters of Los Angeles) were director Carl Franklin, stars Meryl Streep and Renee Zellweger, producer Harry Ufland, Tony Bill and Helen Bartlett, Richard Zanuck, John Burnham, Jim Katz, Mike Marcus, Mimi Rodgers and Universal execs Ron Meyer, Casey Silver, Stacey Snider and Allison Brecker.

Streep arrived at the outdoor party fresh from "The Tonight Show" where she said Leno had told her " 'There are chick flicks and there are guy movies, but this is a movie for everybody.' He really loved it. I didn't have to sell the movie at all."

And with that, guys, chicks and everybody went inside to see the movie.