Bruce Murakami was heading to work when he heard the sirens and saw the smoke.

Instinctively, he says, he knew this tragedy would touch his life. "I was at the accident about five minutes after it happened."

The result was instantly clear: His wife and daughter had died. His life had crumbled.

That happens early in "Crossroads: A Story of Forgiveness," tonight on CBS. The rest of the true story is the key.

"The ability to forgive is very difficult," said Dean Cain, who plays Murakami. "I was amazed at what he was able to do."

He didn't do it quickly, though.

"I ignored my business," Murakami said. "I went to the beach every day; I just needed to be near the water. ... Aside from a great tan, all I was getting from it was more bitterness."

Then he took the opposite route. The tragedy became his life's work.

Bruce and Cindy Murakami had met in Hawai'i when Cindy, then a single mom, bought a car from her soon-to-be husband. They started a health-food store and sandwich bar in the Islands, eventually turning it into a restaurant, and Cindy, who was avidly interested in health and nutrition, also worked at a spa.

She already had one son; they had a second son and later adopted a Korean girl, Chelsea.

After a period of time in the Islands, they moved to Washington state.

"I was in contracting, self-employed," Murakami said. "For too long, my No. 1 thing was building my business."

A decade ago, he said, he finally was spending more time with his family and his life. They had moved to Tampa, Fla., and planned to move to Tulsa, Okla., where one son was in a Christian college and the other was in a private high school.

Then came November 1998. Pulling out of a shopping plaza, Cindy made a left turn over three lanes of traffic. A teen's car crashed into her minivan, killing her and Chelsea.

The case lingered. Officials said there would be no criminal charges against Justin Cabezas, who was 19 at the time of the crash.

Murakami then got his own lawyer to reinvestigate the case, hiring someone who usually worked for the defense.

"It was, 'Get me the attorney who has the meanest attitude in Tampa.' He's someone who gets murderers and rapists off."

The new probe contradicted the police: Cabezas was going 78 mph to 86 mph, it said, in a 55 mph zone. He was street-racing and had just shifted to the left lane.

Charges were filed and plea- bargaining began. Along the way, Murakami finally met the young man he had hated.

"I'm sitting in the courtroom, .... trying to figure out which one he was. He stood up and he was the last person I would have expected."

He was a decent kid, Murakami said. Two weeks before the trial was to begin, they met. "He was genuinely sorry for what had happened, completely remorseful."

That's when Murakami exercised a difficult part of his Christian faith — forgiveness. He spoke for Cabezas in court; the sentencing included 300 hours of community service.

It was a remarkable service — standing with Murakami, telling their story to youth groups. "That was five years ago, and he's passed 2,000 hours now," Murakami said. "He's actually more passionate about it now than ever."

The movie adjusts some of the details. It makes Murakami's lawyer a woman (Peri Gilpin), changes Justin's last name, speeds the story and changes the sons' attitudes. At the core, however, is the powerful story of forgiveness.

"That was the hard part for me," said Cain, playing emotions he couldn't simply retrieve from his own life. "Relationships are relationships. You have to get into it."