Main Cast: Piper Laurie, Mel Gibson, Alwyn Kurts, Pat Evison, Peter Gwynne
Release Year: 1979
Country: AU
Run Time: 94 minutes
Plot
Based on a novel by Colleen McCullough (The Thorn Birds), this "May-December romance" stars Piper Laurie as Mary Horton, a lonely middle-aged American career woman who hires a handsome, mildly retarded young handyman named Tim (played by 22-year-old Mel Gibson in his third screen role). At first keeping her distance, Mary is drawn closer to Tim as the days pass. When Tim's mother dies, Mary becomes his surrogate mother, a relationship that deepens into romantic love. Tim's older sister Dawn (Deborah Kennedy) resents Mary's "intrusion" into their lives, but Tim's dad Ron (Alwyn Kurts) blesses the relationship, realizing that it is beneficial to both parties. Director Michael Pate avoids all opportunities to cheapen or sensationalize the material; while Tim and Mary do end up in bed, it is a sweet moment, not a prurient one. Tim was produced for Australian television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Deborah Kennedy - Dawn Melville; David Foster - Mick Harrington; Margo Lee - Mrs. Harrington; James Condon - Mr. Harrington; Kevin Leslie - Curly Campbell; Catherine Bray - Mrs. Martinson; Doris Goddard - Barmaid Maudie; Allan Penney - Storekeeper Thompson; Michael Caulfield - John Harrington
Credit
John Carroll - Art Director, Michael Pate - Director, David Stiven - Editor, Eric Jupp - Composer (Music Score), Paul Onorato - Cinematographer, Michael Pate - Producer, Michael Pate - Screenwriter, Colleen McCullough - Book Author
Tim (1979) is an Australian romance movie directed by Michael Pate. It is the story of the developing relationship between an older woman (played by Piper Laurie) and a younger, developmentally disabled man (played by Mel Gibson). The movie is closely based on the novel by Colleen McCullough. The movie was moderately successful in Australia, earning Gibson an Australian Film Institute award for best actor. It is also notable for featuring his first sex scene (between him and Laurie).
