1985 (2018)

A closeted young man goes home for the holidays and struggles to reveal his dire circumstances to his conservative family.

Director:

Yen Tan

Writers:

Hutch (story by), Yen Tan (screenplay)

Stars:

Cory Michael Smith, Virginia Madsen, Michael Chiklis

5 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Cory Michael Smith	...	Adrian Lester
Virginia Madsen	...	Eileen
Michael Chiklis	...	Dale Lester
Jamie Chung	...	Carly
Aidan Langford	...	Andrew
Ryan Piers Williams	...	Marc
Michael Darby	...	Leo
Tina Parker	...	Cashier
Bryan Massey	...	Pastor Jon
Bill Heck	...	Slow Dancer 1
Marcus DeAnda	...	Slow Dancer 2 (as Michael Deanda)
Chris Gardner	...	Waiter
Gidget Taylor	...	Nurse
Talir	...	Landry
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nicole Babin	...	Background

Storyline

A closeted young man goes home for the holidays and struggles to reveal his dire circumstances to his conservative family.

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Plot Keywords:

aids | brother brother relationship | father son relationship | conservative | family relationship | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The director does not like the name of the diner in the film. The menu's that displays the diner as "Tan's Diner" was made as a joke not intended to be displaced prominently in the film, it was only used because it blocked the reflection of the camera in the plexiglass.

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Quotes

Adrian Lester: You're gonna have some tough days; days where you feel like everything sucks, and you don't wanna get out of bed; days when you gonna feel like you just don't belong. I've had a lot of those days. And I want you to know; you are not the only one that feels the way you do. There's a whole world out there for someone like you. I promise you are not as different as you think you are. And mom and dad that might not get it; all of your friends might not get it either, and some of them might say some...

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Connections

References A Chorus Line (1985)

User Reviews

It wasn't easy to be gay in Forth Worth in 1985

1985 (2018) was written and directed by Yen Tan. It stars Cory Michael Smith as Adrian, a young gay man who is out of the closet in NYC, but still in the closet in Fort Worth. Adrian is handsome and athletic. He doesn't look or act like the stereotyped version of a gay man.

His parents are working class evangelicals. All they want is for Adrian to marry Carly, the girl friend he left behind. (Jamie Chung, a Korean-American portrays Carly. It's interesting that no one objects to Adrian marrying an Asian-American woman.) Virginia Madsen plays Eileen, Adrian's loving mother. Michael Chiklis portray's Adrian's father Dale, who fulfills the stereotyped image of a tough, blue-collar right-wing guy.

This movie could have been a simple coming-out story, but it isn't. There are complexities within each character, and there are unexpected moments of love and concern.

We saw this film at The Little Theatre, as part of ImageOut, the excellent Rochester LGBT Film Festival. It will work well on the small screen.

1985 carries a weak IMDb rating of 6.8. I think it's better than that.

P.S. In a brilliant piece of programming, ImageOut showed the movie "Buddies" on the same day as it showed 1985. Buddies was produced in 1985. It was the first movie that openly referred to the HIV/AIDS crisis. The year 1985 was a really bad year to be gay.

Details

Official Sites:

Film's Website

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 December 2018 (Ireland)

Also Known As:

1985

Filming Locations:

Texas, USA

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$25,013

Company Credits

Production Co:

Floren Shieh Productions, MuseLessMime Productions, RainMaker Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1