In CBS' new movie, two warm people are divided by a mutual love.

The wife (Marlee Matlin) is deaf; the husband (Jeff Daniels) is not. Now one issue — whether to give their deaf son a cochlear implant — splits them.

"Sweet Nothing in My Ear" has surprises for the audience and for the actors. "I had no idea about the pride in the deaf culture," Daniels says.

That's a key factor. "Some may see deafness as a disability," Matlin, who became deaf at 18 months old, wrote in an e-mail interview, "but it is a spirit and a sense of community that has been around for over 200 years."

That pride propels the conflict, Daniels says. "(Her) opinion is, 'We're deaf; we're not disabled.' ... My argument is that we should not limit him, when there is this technology that might allow him to hear."

This is a frequent debate. Proponents say the implants can restore partial sound to some people who were born hearing; critics say this can separate them from their deaf family and schoolmates.

"I've seen my share of scripts, mostly poorly researched, featuring cochlear implant storylines," Matlin says. "This was the first one that looked at the issue intelligently, accurately."

Besides, she says, this is by the "Hallmark Hall of Fame" people, known for quality.

The director is Joseph Sargent, 82. "He loves making movies," Daniels says.

Sargent has won four Emmys (three for Hallmark films) and was nominated five more times.

In his 1985 "Love is Never Silent," Phyllis Frelich and Ed Waterstreet, both deaf, played parents of a hearing woman. They're back now, as grandparents encased in the struggle.

That was one of the attractions, Matlin says. It "featured several roles for actors who are deaf or hard of hearing."

Noah Valencia was 9, with no acting experience, when he was cast as the son.

"That kid is a wonderful actor (and) he was so prepared ... He was a pro," Daniels says.

Daniels had his own kind of preparation. When the role came up, he says, his agent implied that the actor already knew sign language.

That happens sometimes, Daniels says. Once, when he was cast as George Washington, the producers were given the impression he could ride; he rushed to a stable to learn.

This time? "I ordered this 20-hour series of (signing) tapes and crammed," he says.

Then he studied with Linda Bove, Waterstreet's wife, known for her decades on "Sesame Street." Still, he says, he wasn't the signing whiz he had claimed to be. "I lived a lie."

Matlin doesn't see it that way. "For someone who had three weeks to learn his dialogue in sign," she says, "Jeff was great ... I would say his signing was nearly as good as William Hurt's signing in 'Children of a Lesser God.' "

By the end of the 24-day shoot, Daniels says, she was sometimes signing him jokes between takes.

Mostly, this was a serious time. The implant debate is a starting point for a deep look at family and community.

Matlin grew up in a hearing family and had both hearing and deaf classmates. She learned to sign at 5, she says. "I consider myself a member of the deaf community ... You share a language, a knowledge of the culture and its traditions."

Often, she's been surrounded by the hearing. There were "Sweet Nothing" scenes, however, filled with deaf actors.

"Many were old friends of mine," Matlin says. "Others were mentors and people I had looked up to for years. It was like a wonderful and happy reunion."