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Our Sons (TV) More at IMDbPro »
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| Index | 13 reviews in total |
15 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
The most powerful AIDS movie I've seen, 1 January 2000
Author:
shrine-2
No matter what a man might have done to bring
himself to an AIDS-ridden state, at the very least,
he's entitled to two things: a fond farewell among
his loved ones, and a proper burial. Few could have
played out these sentiments more simply and
rivetingly than in "Our Sons." Even in the bright
San Diego sunlight, there is a pall of melancholy
that hangs over everything in this movie--a ghost of
yearning for tenderness and tolerance. It's an
elegy that plunges through sharp differences of
opinions, and, unlike most great homages, finishes
with a sweet, somber sigh. I cannot remember when
I've been moved so strongly by a TV movie.
Julie Andrews stars as a businesswoman whose
homosexual son, exhausted by the ordeal, reveals
that his lover is dying AIDS. They have drifted
apart, because although it had never been expressed,
she is deeply disappointed with the situation, and
harbors a faint hope that he might change. Under
the mistaken notion that the best thing for his
lover is to reunite him with his own mother, he asks
her to travel to Arkansas to make a personal appeal.
The problem is what separates this Mother and Son is
not a tacit agreement to quietly disagree, but
out-and-out rejection and gut-wrenching revulsion.
The war breaks out between the two mothers as they
wrestle with their strong feelings about their sons.
Julie Andrews has never been known for playing
mothers. Her clipped diction and stilted manner
made her a more fitting nanny or governess, I think,
than a living, breathing, nurturing bearer of
children. It's these qualities that make her right
to play Audrey Grant who has distanced herself from
her son, because she doesn't want to admit that she
hates what has happened. Andrews has never looked
more radiant than she does here. It's as if the
blood has finally started coursing through her
veins. She looks recognizably human, and she has
never seemed smarter than she does here.
Ann-Margret doesn't seem any fitter to play a mother
than Andrews, but she has always been known for her
ferocity. Witness her going at John Forsythe in
"Kitten With A Whip" or her eyes flash at a
cockfight in "The Cincinnati Kid," and you'll know
what I mean. But the abuses the women she played
could heap upon the men in their lives, her Luanne
Barnes can't quite get away with with another woman.
She and Andrews go at it tooth-and-nail, and what
comes of it are their most powerful performances
ever.
As Luanne's son Donnie, Zeljko Ivanek is the
humiliation every parent fears, the skeleton most
fathers and mothers want to stay in the closet, the
jack-in-the-box they'd just as soon lost its spring.
Donnie knows how his mother feels about him, and he
wrestles with the prospect of a painful reunion as
bravely as a dying man can. Writer William Hanley
has blessed him with a love of movie dialogue and a
take-things-as-they-come buoyancy. Ivanek knows
what to do with a part this good. He flies with it,
and he never comes down. With him playing Donnie,
you can understand how he could attract someone who
looks like Hugh Grant (who plays Audrey's son James
as if he had a terminal case of lockjaw) and who
could make a mother like Luanne Barnes see what a
waste her rage and rejection was.
John Erman, who also directed another good AIDS
picture "An Early Frost," is an intelligent
director; he knows when he has something good in
front of him and when to get out of the way. The
moral of the story may be a bit simplistic for some
people's taste: that if we don't love our children,
who will? But I think this movie stands alone on
the subject of AIDS; it's the most powerful movie
about it I've ever seen.
9 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
A very poignant telefilm with great acting, 7 May 2005
Author:
omouroux (omouroux@yahoo.com) from Los Angeles, CA
This is possibly the best made TV movie I've ever watched... Very
powerful, moving and wonderfully acted. "Our Sons" is a great
tearjerker and lesson in tolerance!
Both Julie Andrews and Ann Margret bring a lot of heart and subtlety to
this story, about two mothers from very different backgrounds brought
together by a tragedy affecting their sons and their common difficulty
facing it. Their characters offer different perspectives on a sensitive
topic.
The roles of James and particularly Donald are not as strong or subtly
acted, but do not hurt the quality of this film or our enjoyment
watching it.
Let's hope this little known pearl will be coming to DVD soon, for all
to discover and enjoy!
7 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
A good TV drama., 16 August 1999
Author:
Michael Bregman from London, England
It's not the best AIDS or gay drama around, but it's good. The cast is
great
and the script, while being imperfect, has very good moments.
The four main characters are well developed and their conflict with each
other are very interesting.
A very nice TV movie, but still- a TV movie. Nothing more than
that.
6 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Well-intentioned and moving..., 3 September 2005
Author:
moonspinner55 from redlands, ca
Gay male couple in Los Angeles deals with tragedy: one partner has full-blown AIDS, and his estranged mother from Arkansas is called for; soon, the boys' mothers meet for the first time and couldn't be more dissimilar. Big-hearted TV movie made at the time 108,731 Americans had perished from AIDS, so it's realistic in this setting that everyone here would be struggling with the notion of the disease and with homosexuality in general. Julie Andrews is the wealthy, society-type who lives in a sparkling abode; Ann-Margret plays the bewigged cowgirl who's had a wild life of ups and downs. Dramatically, it might have been more interesting if the two actresses had switched roles--they're a little bit typecast--but it's a comfortable, secure match, and both women are shown to good advantage. Not so Hugh Grant as Andrews' son, looking a bit distanced from the proceedings. A small-budgeted but emotional film, dignified and even-keeled, and though Ann-Margret's character is anti-gay and refers to her son as "one of them", the movie attempts to show personal growth and is ultimately compassionate.
5 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Two Great Stars Team for the First Time in Controversial TV Movie..., 17 July 2006
Author:
Isaac5855 from United States
In OUR SONS, Oscar winner Julie Andrews made her TV movie debut as a wealthy socialite who is asked by her gay son (Hugh Grant) to travel to the town of Fayetteville to find the mother (Ann-Margret) of his lover (Zeljko Ivanek), who is dying of AIDS and wants to see his mother before he dies. This movie shows all four characters going through a myriad of emotions as not only does Andrews have to deal with the fact that her own son is gay and that his lover is dying, she is forced into bonding with this stranger, who not only knew nothing about her son being gay, but now that she knows, wants nothing to do with him and seems curiously unmoved by the fact that her son is dying. Also complicating matters is a clash of social classes as Andrews finds Ann-Margret's character to be uneducated white trash who resents this wealthy woman's intrusion into her life, which ignites some very powerful emotions between the two women. Equally moving are the scenes between the two lovers. This movie is well-directed and acted and brings up quite a few unpleasant questions regarding homosexuality and AIDS. An adult motion picture drama that tackles some unpleasant subject matter but is well worth watching for the adult and open minded movie viewer.
Powerful and moving stuff, 1 June 2011
Author:
earlytalkie from United States
When one hears that Julie Andrews and Ann-Margaret are going to be in the same film, one expects possibly a comedy or musical. What you have here are some riveting performances by two old pros in a story that still could resonate today. The in-bred bigotry espoused by Ann-Margaret I am sure, is still practiced by many in regions all over the world. Julie Andrews character is somewhat more enlightened as she has (grudgingly) accepted her son's homosexuality. Her initial facade of tolerance is tempered by a "disappointment" that her own son is gay. Her earnest wish for her son to be tested and his fear of being tested show honest and true emotions for the characters. Hugh Grant does well in his role of the lover about to lose his mate. I hadn't see this since it was first telecast in 1991, but I was surprised to see how well the writing, direction and especially the performances have held up over the years. See this by all means.
1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Pledge for understanding, 21 April 2007
Author:
Vincentiu from Romania
Superb film about understanding. About empathy and forms of love, about
social spaces and nooks of fear. Story of a special search and image of
the other in your interior forum, place of gestures and words in an
ambiguous universe of symbols and masks.
A pledge for tolerance and small fights , about heavy price and the
importance of values, about AIDS and the reactions not against illness
or victim but against a subtle cowardly for who the ignorance, the
personal life, the family are protective circles.
Great value of film is the acting.
Julie Andrews in a splendid role in which reveals the aspects of self
sacrifice and force of a mother for who values, rules and dreams are
more different after the confession of son.
Ann- Margrette in the role of a victim of faith for who the life is
cruel joke and, beyond education or hope, the presence of the other in
personal space is terrible attack against.
Hugh Grant as lover, son and ax of a universe in which self sacrifice
is normal price to be yourself.
Zeljko Ivanek in a touching role, with subtle shadows of interpretation
of victims in many films.
And the locations, words and details for constructing a drama not about
love, hope, fight or social values, AIDS and death but for
understanding of other like part of yourself understanding
0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
For a TV movie this was very good, 6 December 2009
Author:
Wayne Malin (wwaayynnee51@hotmail.com) from United States
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
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 Doanld 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-Margaret 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-Margaret 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.
2 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, 22 September 2005
Author:
Laughtertoo-1 from United States
I'm going to give the movie "2 thumbs up". The movie depicts a young man dying of AIDS and fears his mother knowing because she evicted him years prior because of him being gay. An all too familiar story in the gay community. However, the best part of the movie is watching both parents come to term with their sons sexuality. Audrey Grant (played by Julie Andrews) thought she didn't need any help in dealing with her son's sexuality until she met LouAnn Barnes (played convincingly by Ann-Margaret) and was forced to face her disappointment of not having grandchildren. The best lines however we delivered by Ann-Margaret and one can't help but laugh at her sarcasm and wit. In perspective, in spite of the subject matter, I found it to be a "feel good" movie and one that will be kept among my favorites.
7 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
SO SO TV MOVIE, 27 June 1999
Author:
anonymous from ohio
Our Sons is an ok tv movie but could've been better. I did get a good laugh out of Julie Andrews calling Ann Margret " A stupid bitch". Ann Margret and Julie Andrews are good but Hugh Grant is annoying as usual.
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