Themes: Mothers and Sons, Kids in Trouble, Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Main Cast: Teri Garr, Peter Weller, Christopher Collet, Corey Haim, Sarah Jessica Parker
Release Year: 1984
Country: US
Run Time: 103 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
A teenager and his kid brother spar with their mother's shady new boyfriend in this dramatic thriller from veteran British director Michael Apted. When her ex-husband remarries, Wendy (Teri Garr) feels despondent -- until she starts dating handsome, unctuous Sam (Peter Weller), an underemployed salesman with no shortage of big ideas. Excited to finally feel good about herself again, Wendy invites Sam to move in and offers to invest in his get-rich-quick schemes. None of this sits well with her sons, Jake (Christopher Collet) and Brian (Corey Haim), who remain unimpressed with Sam even after he convinces Wendy to buy Jake a motorbike. They're even less jazzed when Sam stops currying favor and turns disciplinarian even while pulling Wendy into his hard-partying lifestyle. Within a few months, Brian's on the verge of expulsion for picking fights at school, and even honor-role student Jake is mouthing off to his teachers. As for Wendy, she's too busy taking beatings and doing cocaine to notice that her family has fallen apart. It isn't until Jake gets wise to the industrial quantities of white powder squirreled away under the floorboards that he comes up with a plan to get Sam out of their lives forever. Although onetime Tiger Beat heartthrob Christopher Collet plays Firstborn's title role, the films' supporting cast is littered with actors whose stars would far eclipse his (Sarah Jessica Parker, Robert Downey Jr.) -- though in some cases only for a little while (Corey Haim). ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Review
Although it works fairly well as a straight drama about the emotional fallout of divorce, Firstborn proves far more enjoyable when viewed as a campy relic of cautionary '80s hand-wringing about broken families. Fresh off the success of Tootsie and Mr. Mom, Teri Garr once again scrambles gender roles in the non-comedic role of an insecure single mother going through her second adolescence. Whether sleepwalking through her parenting duties or blowing rails off a coffee table during a swingers' party, Garr brings just the right sense of unempowered bafflement to the part. Future Lost Boys and License to Drive star Corey Haim gets relegated mostly to damaged moppet mode, but teen idol also-ran Christopher Collet makes the most of his blue-eyed soulfulness and slightly androgynous good looks. Whether hanging with his forcefully sassy girlfriend (Sarah Jessica Parker), getting in touch with his masculinity on a brand-new dirt bike, or standing up passionately to a blowhard teacher, this kid's got "virile yet sensitive new-age guy" written all over him. As for Peter Weller, those angular cheekbones and hooded eyes just scream "seductive yet violent druggie" from the moment he appears. With suspense about his character's true intentions rendered moot by the actor's sinister brooding, the audience can just sit back and wait for the inevitable retribution reel -- and lay odds on whether that dirt bike will be involved. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Richard Brandon - Dad; James Harper - Mr. Rader; Richard E. Szlasa - Coach Gant; Larry Atlas - Stranger; Ellen Barber - Wendy's Girl Friend; Robert Downey, Jr. - Lee; Christopher Gartin - Adam; Josh Hamilton - Brad; Gayle Harbor - Joanne; Sarah Inglis - Jill; Beverly W. May - Mrs. Mercer; Billy Anagnos; Frank Ferrara - Driver of Car; Jery Hewitt; Scott Wilder; Vebe Borge - Friend; Joseph M. Costa - Headman; Brian Lima - Robby; Christopher Russo - Beckman
Credit
Alice Shure - Associate Producer, Ron Koslow - Co-producer, Colleen Atwood - Costume Designer, Robert V. Girolami - First Assistant Director, Michael Apted - Director, Angelo Corrao - Editor, Arthur Schmidt - Editor, Stanley Jaffe - Executive Producer, Sherry Lansing - Executive Producer, Michael Small - Composer (Music Score), Paul Sylbert - Production Designer, Ralf Bode - Cinematographer, Stanley Jaffe - Producer, Sherry Lansing - Producer, Tony Thomas - Producer, Paul Junger Witt - Producer, Alan Hicks - Set Designer, Ron Koslow - Screenwriter, Peter Lonsdale - Assistant Editor
Jake Livingston has always been the man of the Livingston home since his parents were divorced, that is, until his mother started seeing Sam. Sam, an alcoholic and drug addict, introduces Jake's mother into a self-destructive lifestyle.
Seven years later, Haim and Collet were pitted against each other as an undercover narc and a designer drug kingpin (respectively) in Prayer of the Rollerboys
