Private Sessions (TV 1985)

A therapist goes outside his office and into his patients' personal lives to help them. He is treating a man who is hearing sounds but apparently there is nothing wrong with him ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Pressman

Writers:

David Seltzer (teleplay), Thom Thomas (teleplay)

Stars:

Mike Farrell, Maureen Stapleton, Denise Miller

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mike Farrell	...	Dr. Joe Braden
Maureen Stapleton	...	Dr. Liz Bolger
Denise Miller	...	Angie
Kathryn Walker	...	Claire Braden
Mary Tanner Bailey	...	Millie Braden (as Mary Tanner)
David Labiosa	...	Ramon
Tom Bosley	...	Harry O'Reilly
Robert Vaughn	...	Oliver Coles
Kelly McGillis	...	Jennifer Coles
Greg Evigan	...	Rick
Hope Lange	...	Mrs. Coles
Kim Hunter	...	Rosemary O'Reilly
Victor Garber	...	Jerry Sharma
John Cunningham	...	Paul Rogers
Elias Koteas	...	Johnny O'Reilly

Storyline

A therapist goes outside his office and into his patients' personal lives to help them. He is treating a man who is hearing sounds but apparently there is nothing wrong with him psychologically. And a woman who despite being in a healthy relationship goes around picking up guys and having sex with them. She decides to seek help and what the doctor learns is that the problem goes back to her childhood and her family.

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Plot Keywords:

nymphomaniac | new york city | sex | therapist | taxi driver | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 March 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Secretos inconfesables

Company Credits

Production Co:

Raven's Claw Productions, Seltzer-Gimbel Productions, Comworld Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min 120 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

But For The Clichés, It May Have Become A Series.

This pilot produced as a possible television weekly series that did not come about, features a psychotherapist, Dr. Joe Braden (Mike Farrell), who becomes closely involved with his patients, away from his office, the plot blending two separate cases, an ostensibly compulsive nymphomaniac, performed by Kelly McGillis, and a cab driver (Tom Bosley) who is suffering from audio hallucinations; additionally, Braden's associations with his former wife and with his daughter, along with a possible new romance for him fill the landscape of the scenario. Farrell gives an obviously well prepared and nicely nuanced reading as a therapist who cares deeply for his patients, while McGillis and Robert Vaughn also provide strong performances for a film that is ably directed, acted and photographed; however, other than brief dialogue concerning matters of psychologic theory between Braden and a Freudian psychoanalyst with whom he shares a medical suite, at issue are serious mental and emotional maladies that are patly solved within the script in cavalier fashion, reducing the believability potential of Braden who apparently, during a television series, would be obsessed with problems of his clientèle week after neurosis-saturated week. The DVD version offers no extra features, other than an inadequate scene index.