Any Mother's Son (1997) (TV)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

David Burton Morris

Writer (WGA):

Bruce Harmon (written by)

Release Date:

11 August 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Justice | Homosexuality | Murder | Factory Worker | Investigation

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Bonnie Bedelia	...	Dorothy Hajdys
Hedy Burress	...	Kathy
Paul Popowich	...	Allen
Fiona Reid	...	Doris
Allan Royal
Shawn Ashmore	...	Billy
Mimi Kuzyk	...	Peggy Evans
Peter Keleghan
Barry Flatman
Paul Haddad
Phillip Jarrett
Sada Thompson	...	Gertie
Scott Gibson	...	Terry Helvey
Cameron Mathison	...	Rich Eastman
Michael Gabriel	...	Charles Vins

Runtime:

Brazil:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

ABC Pictures

Perhaps the best docudrama I've seen

Any Mother's Son is a frank, honest film that nevertheless treats its characters and its subject with tenderness and compassion while remaining evenhanded, realistic, and unmarred by lugubriousness. Bonnie Bedelia gives a moving performance, with numerous scenes of genuine emotional intensity, and I was repeatedly touched by her grief and anger, and compelled by her eventual crusade for justice. It was quite satisfying to watch her character develop, as she came to grips with the realization of her murdered closeted son's homosexuality, and how her love for him helped her and her family to grow and to cope, and become stronger. It also treats the killers with fairness, portraying them not as monsters but as human beings, and addresses the brutally abusive childhood of the defendant.

This movie is appropriate for people of all ages, and is refreshingly free of the exploitative, sensationalistic tone which dominates almost every other based-on-true-events made-for-TV movie out there (the only other exception I can personally think of offhand being The Price of Love). I'd recommend it to anyone, and wish it could somehow be exposed to a wider audience.