Firstborn (1984)

A teen must protect his family when his mother's sinister new boyfriend begins exerting his authority in their home.

Director:

Michael Apted

Writer:

Ron Koslow

Stars:

Teri Garr, Peter Weller, Christopher Collet

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Teri Garr	...	Wendy
Peter Weller	...	Sam
Christopher Collet	...	Jake
Corey Haim	...	Brian
Sarah Jessica Parker	...	Lisa
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Lee
Chris Gartin	...	Adam
James Harper	...	Mr. Rader
Richard Brandon	...	Dad
Gayle Harbor	...	Joanne
Ellen Barber	...	Wendy's Girlfriend
Richard E. Szlasa	...	Coach Gant
Beverly May	...	Mrs. Mercer
Brian Lima	...	Robby
J.D. Roth	...	Ken

Storyline

Because he's the oldest, Jake has been the man of the house, since his parents divorce. When Mom starts seeing Sam, who always seems to be trying some new way to get rich quick, and declares he's the man of the house now, Jake puts up with it. Until he discovers Sam's illegal activities.

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Plot Keywords:

backtalk | drug | woman in jeopardy | divorce | restaurant | 

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Taglines:

There's a new man in his mother's life. A difficult, dangerous, violent man. Now Jake's got to stand up for himself and his family.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 October 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

First Born

Filming Locations:

85 Castles Drive, Wayne, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,606,214, 28 October 1984

Gross USA:

$6,250,994

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Jaffe-Lansing, Witt/Thomas Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene where Jake (Christopher Collet) (on a motorbike) is being pursued by Sam (Peter Weller) in the SUV, was filmed in Morristown, New Jersey. In an attempt to shake off Sam, Jake gets up on the New Jersey Transit tracks, and is soon overtaken by a commuter train. During the sequence, which involved several takes, veteran stuntman Bill Anagnos (doubling Christopher Collet) was actually struck by the train, and was knocked off the right-of-way, suffering a broken leg. With heavy editing of the previous takes, the accident was not shown, and the film progressed from there. After a long period of painful recuperation, Bill Anagnos eventually returned to stunt work.

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Quotes

Jake: Why do you get in so many fights?
Brian: Cuz I always win. It's like being the fastest gun.
Jake: Then lose once.

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Connections

Referenced in The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs: Sleepaway Camp (2018)

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Soundtracks

There Is a Nation
by Jack Hues (as J. Hues)
Performed by Wang Chung

User Reviews

Paints a good picture of how stress can affect young lives

Wendy(Garr) is a single mom raising two boys, Jake(Collett) and Brian(Haim). After seeing that her ex-husband has moved on in his life she gets in a relationship with Sam(Weller).

At first Sam seems to be a nice guy, but that soon changes. He keeps coming up with different ways to make money but never follows through. He moves in with the family way too soon and even starts helping himself to the boys belongings. He invites shady looking friends to the house late at night to have Coke parties and starts to become verbally abusive to all and physically abusive to Wendy. She keeps telling the boys that Sam is trying and to be patient but the stress of this affects the boys as well.

Jake is a great student, athletic and fun-loving. As the stress keeps welling up in him it causes problems in his relationship with his girlfriend Lisa(Jessica-Parker). He becomes verbally abusive to his friends and more aggressive on the Lacrosse field. Up to this point he has been tolerant of his self absorbed, egomaniac teacher but even starts to become defiant with him as well.

Brian avoids home as much as he can and keeps getting into bad fights in school.

When Jake discovers that Sam is trafficking drugs through the house he has finally had enough and takes it upon himself to make a stand.

This movie is a great example of how a bad relationship can cause stress on more than two lives. Stress becomes a trickle down effect and can be very damaging especially to young lives.