Thicker Than Blood (TV 1998)

Griffin Byrne is the idealistic new history, English and maths teacher in Father Frank Larkin's school in a mainly Latino ghetto neighborhood where most kids, even many of its graduates, ... See full summary »

Director:

Richard Pearce

Writers:

Bill Cain (play), Bill Cain (teleplay)

Stars:

Mickey Rourke, Dan Futterman, Carlo Alban

1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mickey Rourke	...	Father Frank Larkin
Dan Futterman	...	Griffin Byrne
Carlo Alban	...	Lee Cortez
Lauren Vélez	...	Camilla Lopez
Josh Mostel	...	Kendall
Peter Maloney	...	James
Vincent Laresca	...	Tyro
Rosanna DeSoto	...	Señora
Dick Latessa	...	Ciccilone
Grace Garland	...	Hooker
Brandon Segarra	...	Alberto
Travis Delingua	...	Maximo
Agustin Rodriguez	...	Henry
Floyd Resnick	...	Cop
Lanisha Mora	...	Camilla's kid

Storyline

Griffin Byrne is the idealistic new history, English and maths teacher in Father Frank Larkin's school in a mainly Latino ghetto neighborhood where most kids, even many of its graduates, end up in crime and poverty. He takes a particular interest in one of the boys nobody believes will ever come to anything, Lee Cortes, who he finds to be a prodigy in cartoon drawing but who never spoke a word at school, and always wears a Walkman, essentially because of his home situation: his elder brother Tyro, a drug dealer, abuses him and his mother, so he often stays home to mind the smallest siblings. Griffin tries everything to help Lee, despite everyones cynicism, even takes him in his bachelor flat, but finds the whole family situation must be solved, which is probably beyond his power, yet tries tireless, even if he gets nothing but abuse and the results seem to do more hurting then helping...

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Plot Keywords:

school | based on play

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official TNT site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 May 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stand Up Tragedy

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sarabande Productions, Turner Network Television (TNT)

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

Strong

Very strong. Saw this a couple years ago but was compelled to submit only now due to the outrageously misleading two line post on main page. This was a tough, extremely well written, realistic piece featuring fine work by Dan Futterman and that rarest of rare these days, an excellent performance from Mickey Rourke as, of all things, a priest. He is remarkably disciplined and convincing for a change. Though it was made for cable this movie (along with HBO's recent "Cheaters") is superior to 95% of the junk that gets dumped into the neighborhood multiplex. A great deal of care and intelligence went into the making of this one. Check it out if you happen to be into that sort of thing.