Our Sons

Gay couple in Los Angeles deals with tragedy: one of the men has full-blown AIDS, and his estranged mother from Arkansas is called for. Soon, the mothers of both boys meet for the first time and couldn't be more dissimilar. Big-hearted TV-movie with statistics from 1991--at the time, 108,731 Americans had perished from AIDS. Everyone here is struggling to understand the disease (and homosexuality in general), which is pretty realistic for this era. 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 ladies 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. *** from ****

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!

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.

Our Sons, although a more than fine TV Movie, doesn't bring anything new to the table, the moral basically being watered down to "Love your kids, even if they're gay." In the movie's defense, it did come out around the peak of the AIDS epidemic and while I wasn't born at the time, I can say for certain there was a lot of stigma around the virus.

Regardless, I can recognize the importance of this movie, though an obvious product of its time. It might pander to straight people a little bit too much at times, but if movies like this make at least one parent accept their queer child, then so be it.

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.