Consenting Adult

Sometimes We Think That TV does not deliver anything better than The Real Cinema Theater Plays but with this film The director showed a good story, well done , good acting and most of all very well structured with many topics that were ahead to that edge in the middle of the 1980's Decade! It was about Love, Forgiving, Redemption, and Accepting! I enjoyed this movie, specially for focusing in discuss if Homosexuality was an illness or just a natural expression of sexual orientation! Good for the Director!

I will never forget first seeing this Made-for-TV movie when it aired in 1985. I was in High School, a closeted kid, who was dealing with my own homosexuality. This TV movie hit me like a ton of bricks, especially at a time in my life when I needed to see it the most and to be able to identify with the entire cast of characters.

Barry Tubb plays Jeff Lynd, the main character questioning his sexuality. Marlo Thomas plays Jeff Lynd's mother, who is the recipient of his first coming out by verbally being told that he is homosexual. Martin Sheen plays his father, who is devastated with the news of his sons news.

Based on the book by Laura Z. Hobson, this TV movie still holds up quite well today, especially since the subject of homosexuality in 1985 was basically non-existant, aside from the attachment of the AIDS epidemic.

It was never given a proper wide release on VHS or DVD like it should have. This is, by far, one of the best Made-for-TV movies made. You can occasionally find a rare VHS copy on eBay (released by King Bee Video). Your best bet to see this outstanding film is by watching it on YouTube, which was transferred & uploaded to the service. The last I checked, it was still online with 490k views since 2013.

Do yourself a favor and see this movie. I can't recommend it highly enough.

this movie is atrue example of a boy how had to come to realize he is gay and does not know how to deal with it. as we all have gone through this back in those days it was difficult for the whole family. but this movie gives us an insite of one parent coming to deal with the boys situation and the other who cannot.i saw this movie on TV here in Australia quite a few years ago and i still admire it and the wat it dealt with this situation. i give it 5 stars because when it was shown people in general could not deal with the fact their son or daughter were gay. still thought it was a disease or mental problem. i know i went through this and just left home and moved to a place where i was not know and eventually my family came to deal with it and all is OK now thanks charles ps. i am 70 years old now

I saw this film when it came out on TV. I was thoroughly impressed with the way this subject was handled. Marlo should be very proud of her work. I was 26 when I saw this and think this is a film all young people should see when considering coming out to their parents.

As a gay teenager coming up when this movie came on for the first time it actually made the idea of coming out a bit easier! This movie though it only mentioned AIDS once was very well made and everything was done in good taste! I think the caste was superb with such heavy weights as Martin Sheen and Marlo Thomas and at that time Barry Tubb was a relative newcomer and the perfect choice to play Jeff he is a good looking actor and he helped prove that anyone can be gay and that it is not a sickness but a way of life! I wish someone would buy the rights to this movie and put it on Video or DVD. We need more movies like this that parents can watch with their gay children so that the coming out process will be easier on both!