Donald Barnes (Zeljko Ivanek) is a gay man dying of AIDS. He was thrown out of his house years before by his mom Luanne (Ann-Margret) when he told her he was gay. Donalds' lover James (Hugh Grant) asks HIS mom Audrey (Julie Andrews) to go to Luanne and tell her that her son is dying and this is her last chance to see him. This has Luanne having to deal with her homophobia...and Audrey realizing she has issues of her own.
This was groundbreaking (for TV) when it came out in 1991. The HIV is not prettied up or toned down. It opens with Donald already in the hospital and his face and body is already ravaged. That aside though this WAS tame. The language is toned down--except when, in a rousing moment, Andrews calls Ann-Margret a "bitch". No gay slurs are used either even though a few moments in the script cry out for them. Also almost all the conflicts come to a neat tidy end that are mostly unbelievable--I never bought Luanne's total acceptance for one moment. Still it does have some well done sequences and Ann-Margret and Andrews are just great in their respective roles. Talented actor Ivanek is given nothing to do but slowly waste away. Grant manages (somehow) to completely cover his English accent and adopts a believable California one. He also nicely underplays his role. The movie also sidesteps from getting TOO melodramatic which could have easily happened. So, for a TV movie, it was very good but (almost 20 years later) it's very dated, the low budget shows and it is distressingly tame. Still, it was a wonder that this was even made and that Andrews and Ann-Margaret agreed to star in it. A 7.
This was groundbreaking (for TV) when it came out in 1991. The HIV is not prettied up or toned down. It opens with Donald already in the hospital and his face and body is already ravaged. That aside though this WAS tame. The language is toned down--except when, in a rousing moment, Andrews calls Ann-Margret a "bitch". No gay slurs are used either even though a few moments in the script cry out for them. Also almost all the conflicts come to a neat tidy end that are mostly unbelievable--I never bought Luanne's total acceptance for one moment. Still it does have some well done sequences and Ann-Margret and Andrews are just great in their respective roles. Talented actor Ivanek is given nothing to do but slowly waste away. Grant manages (somehow) to completely cover his English accent and adopts a believable California one. He also nicely underplays his role. The movie also sidesteps from getting TOO melodramatic which could have easily happened. So, for a TV movie, it was very good but (almost 20 years later) it's very dated, the low budget shows and it is distressingly tame. Still, it was a wonder that this was even made and that Andrews and Ann-Margaret agreed to star in it. A 7.