Consenting Adult (1985)

A young gay man tries to find acceptance from his shocked mother and disgusted father. Through this journey, he also learns to accept himself for who he is.

Director:

Gilbert Cates

Writers:

Laura Z. Hobson (based on the novel by), John McGreevey (teleplay)

Stars:

Marlo Thomas, Martin Sheen, Barry Tubb

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Marlo Thomas	...	Tess Lynd
Martin Sheen	...	Ken Lynd
Barry Tubb	...	Jeff Lynd
Talia Balsam	...	Margie
Ben Piazza	...	Dr. Mark Waldo
John Terlesky	...	Pete Roberts
Corinne Camacho	...	Claire (as Corinne Michaels)
Matthew Laurance	...	Nate
Joseph Adams	...	Stu
Richard Sargent	...	Pat Malone
Thomas Peacocke	...	Dr. Daniels
Moira Walley-Beckett	...	Sue Wister (as Moira Walley)
Jeff Irvine	...	Hank
Dave Sayer	...	Counterman
Rebecca Staples	...	Maribel

Storyline

Young and shy Jeff discovers his attraction to men. After struggling with himself he comes out to his parents. His mum eventually listens to him and tries to understand his feelings, but his dad would rather die, leaving a mother, her son, and his friend to work out the things Jeff and his dad never had the courage to discuss.

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Plot Keywords:

brother sister relationship | psychiatrist | homophobia | sexual orientation | crying | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

In the novel, Jeff has two older siblings, a sister and a brother. In the film, he has only a sister, sensitively portrayed by Talia Balsam. Much of Tess and Ken's marital tension in the book stems from their very polar handling of the crisis based on their divergent upbringings (his Protestant, hers Jewish), which results in Ken's inability to break silence. The influence of ethnicity is not addressed in the film.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Ken Lynd: All right Pat. Just one picture.

User Reviews

For TV, very good

A young man (Barry Tubb) comes out to his parents. The father (Martin Sheen) immediately rejects him, while his mother (Marlo Thomas) tries to accept him and get her husband to also.

Way ahead of its time (for TV). The man is allowed to have a handsome young lover and even has sex (not shown) without being punished! The acting is all good and the subject matter is handled extremely well.

The only bad part was how the parents (over)reacted. They acted like he had committed murder or something! Thomas' overreaction actually had me smirking a little. Also it's quite interesting to see Sheen playing a homophobe--in real life he's very accepting of gays. In fact he played one in an early 1970s TV movie ("That Certain Summer")which I've never seen.

Anyways this is a little dated (AIDS isn't mentioned) but still very worthwhile...especially for gay kids planning to come out.

Also Tubb is REALLY cute!!!!!

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 February 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Con el consentimiento de los adultos

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Starger Company, David Lawrence and Ray Aghayan Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1