MovieChat Forums > Consenting Adult (1985) Discussion > Remake this movie!

Remake this movie!

posted 12 years ago by duke4172-1
8 replies | jump to latest

This is a movie that needs to be remade! So much has happened with the gay community as far as gay rights,gay marriage and hiv/Aids this story needs to be updated!

[–] lecrismail 12 years ago

Gosh! This movie was amazing, but if it did tackle on more themes, wouldn't it be too long? "Born in 68" is this french film that's 3 hrs long, and it does take on many of these themes.
I don't usually look at old films - (older than me, hehehehehe), but this film has totally changed my mind. Awesome!

BTW (by the way), look at this awesome photo of Talia Balsam (sister) - she looks amazing: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0051104/

[–] SWLinPHX-2 10 years ago

BTW (by the way), look at this awesome photo of Talia Balsam (sister) - she looks amazing: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0051104/

I had been watching "Mad Men" for a while before I realized Margie from "Consenting Adult" was the same actress (Talia Balsam) playing Roger Sterling's wife Mona!

[–] SWLinPHX-2 10 years ago

Why should they remake this film? It was done perfectly the first time around and the issue of coming out is not a "new" topic as it was in 1985 so it wouldn't even make sense to remake it. There have been numerous other made-for-tv movies about coming out and acceptance, like "Prayers For Bobby" with Sigourney Weaver.

[–] basileos 10 years ago

Ah yes Prayers For Bobby, both the book and the movie are fantastic. Tears were most definitely shed by me. I expected the Sigourney Weaver character to be some kind of monster, but she wasn't at all. She truly loved her son and just wanted the best for him, and the woman she is based on is apparently still doing work with the PFLAG community. Not a happy ending of course, but still one with hope. I can't remember how Consenting Adult ended, so I hope it comes out on DVD sometime.

[–] SWLinPHX-2 10 years ago

I have a copy of it both on VHS and DVD. I really liked the ending. We even did a scene from it for my final project in one of my semesters of a TV production class in L.A. It goes great with "An Early Frost" the other gay, coming-out themed made-for-TV movie to debut a few months later in 1985.

[–] glennh69 10 years ago

Also notable regarding the coinciding 1985 Consenting Adult/An Early Frost release are Martin Sheen's lines referencing "young men dying of AIDS". This was added to the script after it was already written. Those involved with the project felt it would be remiss & unrealistic not to mention the unfolding pandemic in the story.

The film was based on Laura Hobson's novel, which was written in 1975---years before the first AIDS cases. The book was relatively successful, so a movie script went into development shortly thereafter. In keeping with Hollywood tradition, the film & script were kicked around and tinkered with for almost ten years, but no big name producer or studio would touch it because of its "hands-off" subject matter.

Any hopes for a theatrical release were dashed in 1982, with the dismal box office performance of Making Love---"proving" Hollywood's assumption that Americans were not ready to buy a movie ticket to see gay-themed stories. At that point, it was pitched to the TV networks instead.

[–] SWLinPHX-2 10 years ago

Also notable regarding the coinciding 1985 Consenting Adult/An Early Frost release are Martin Sheen's lines referencing "young men dying of AIDS". This was added to the script after it was already written. Those involved with the project felt it would be remiss & unrealistic not to mention the unfolding pandemic in the story.

The film was based on Laura Hobson's novel, which was written in 1975---years before the first AIDS cases. The book was relatively successful, so a movie script went into development shortly thereafter. In keeping with Hollywood tradition, the film & script were kicked around and tinkered with for almost ten years, but no big name producer or studio would touch it because of its "hands-off" subject matter.

Any hopes for a theatrical release were dashed in 1982, with the dismal box office performance of Making Love---"proving" Hollywood's assumption that Americans were not ready to buy a movie ticket to see gay-themed stories. At that point, it was pitched to the TV networks instead.

Interesting back story, thanks. Yes, unlike "An Early Frost", "Consenting Adult" was not meant to deal with the AIDS epidemic but being that it debuted on TV a decade later than the book was written (and aired the same year that Rock Hudson died and AIDS was in the forefront of consciousness) they had to include some reference to it in the film. Although it took so long to make, even by 1985 it was still ground-breaking TV for the time.

However, I always thought "Making Love" did well, or at least got a lot of critical acclaim. It certainly didn't go unnoticed.

[–] glennh69 10 years ago

SWLinPHX-2, sorry for a bit of a drift off-topic, but Making Love was, initially, both a critical and box-office failure. At the time, critics dismissed it as a soap-style melodrama approach to an important issue and mainstream movie-goers clearly had no interest, as there was substantial advance publicity about its 'controversial' same-sex subject matter. Most folks literally "didn't want to be seen" entering the theater--even if they were curious.

For years afterward, both Harry Hamlin & Michael Ontkean referred to the film as a forgettable & regrettable career move, with Hamlin going as far as to say in one subsequent interview that ML essentially destroyed his chances at ever becoming a box-office leading man (whether he was ever on that A-List "leading man" trajectory to begin with is open to debate) .

As the decades passed and society began to change, the film's significance and legacy changed with it. As you say, it is commonly viewed as "groundbreaking" today. Hamlin's perspective has evolved as well. Today, he says only positive things about his participation in the project, and co-hosted the 30th anniversary screening (including an audience Q&A) at the LA Film Festival in 2012. Allegedly, Ontkean is still rather bitter, and has (supposedly) blocked clips from the film that include his image from being shown. However, this may be urban legend.

Getting back to original topic, Yes, Consenting Adult certainly was still a significant achievement in 1985, particularly as it involved an adolescent. Probably the most truly "groundbreaking" US telefilm dealing with homosexuality was That Certain Summer broadcast on ABC in 1972, an amazing 13 years earlier.