Word: firstborn
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Kramer vs. Kramer, for all its exposure of the pangs of divorce for Mom and Dad, portrayed the children of divorce as the emotional equivalent of furniture, just another trinket to split in the final settlement. Firstborn looks at the American family in the aftermath of divorce and examines the furniture that must grow up with "new relationship" Skillfully avoiding the artistic temptation to transform the Livingston family into Every Family and the film into The Social Statement, Firstborn draws us into a painful and complex story that may be one of this year's best films...
Watching the world almost exclusively through Jacke's warm but confused eyes, Firstborn makes Jake into a Superkid, faced with Herculean tasks while still in the Clearosil mindset. Mom seems intent on bringing down her life on top of the entire family: his real Dad is nothing more than a dinner partner on the way to a seven a.m. business trip; his girlfriend just wants to have fun. His English teacher warns, "Watch it Jake, your works not so good that you can afford to get on my bad side...
With all its dimensions and contradictions, Jake's character entails an unusual challenge given the Hollywood trend to treat its young male leads as Calvin Klein underwear models and the general willingness of its leads to seem even devoid of that much acting ability. Much of the success of Firstborn comes from Christopher Collet's masterful performance as Jake, offering even in his sassiest scenes a glimpse into the conflict tearing at him. How disappointing, then, that Firstborn must nonetheless include the de rigeur weightlifting scenc in Jake's bedroom...
...forget about having my firstborn named after you file. I went to a Mets-Cubs clash late this lamented summer and saw Dwight Gooden set down the visitors without a hit in the first four innings...
...idealized portrait of a small California town during World War II, Comedy (the title is meant in a Dantean rather than Keatonian sense) tells the story of the widowed Mother Macauley (Bonnie Koloc), whose firstborn, Marcus, has gone to war, leaving her to struggle along with her three other children. The family, though, is merely the centerpiece of a civic tableau; as staged, oratorio-style, by Director Wilford Leach, a large chorus sits facing the audience,with various performers stepping forward to portray schoolchildren, townspeople and soldiers. The hero is not an individual but the imaginary, indomitable town of Ithaca...