*Premise spoilers.*
This is an interesting but flawed TV movie. I’d say it would’ve been progressive when it was made while still being very much a product of its time. Christopher Eccleston is effective in this complicated, sometimes uncomfortable role.
Joe Broughton was adopted, and now that he’s a father himself, he’s become more preoccupied with wondering about his biological parents and trying to find them. After some digging, he’s shocked to discover that his true parentage was deliberately concealed: he’s the son of two people with developmental disabilities, who conceived him while they were both living in an institution. Joe struggles to wrestle with this revelation, reckoning with where he came from and very tentatively trying to get to know his biological parents.
A few notes to start. This film involves a number of slurs against people with developmental disabilities, as well as terms that are simply outdated. There are some ugly attitudes, and Joe has a lot of ableism that he needs to examine in himself. Furthermore, it remains very much Joe’s story, and while it seems like the disabled characters were all cast authentically, they’re devices in his narrative. They’re there to challenge his assumptions, to present him with frustrations, and to provoke questions in him, all unwittingly. I fully respect anyone’s choice not to watch the film for these reasons.
There is some interest to be found here, although the movie feels thin at 76 minutes and its tone can veer toward melodramatic. I like Joe gradually learning to relate to his birth parents on their terms, not his, and recognizing that just because the daydreams he had of them didn’t pan out, they’re still people deserving of respect. (I’m aware that that’s an incredibly low bar to clear, but again, he has a lot of ableism to contend with.) Additionally, the film does a decent job of showing what life can be like for a developmentally disabled adult, with Joe’s birth parents, Harry and Janet, living under two very different circumstances.
Other than Eccleston, I’m not super familiar with the rest of the cast. Stephen Graham, who plays Joe’s friend Eddie, has cropped up in various things, including as Mr. Wormwood in the movie musical of Matilda. Like I said, the disabled characters here all appear to be cast with disabled actors, which I appreciate. Peter Kirby and Dorothy Cockin, both in their only screen credits, play Harry and Janet. Kirby gets more time onscreen than Cockin, and he does well with the role.
Christopher Eccleston plays Joe. Thinking back on it, there are a handful of films about people whose parents have developmental disabilities—I think the first I ever saw was I Am Sam. The biggest difference with Joe is that he wasn’t raised by Harry and/or Janet, and he grew up without having any information about them. It’s not until his daughter is born that he gets serious about trying to find them—“She might look like someone we’ve never met,” he muses, looking at the baby—and when he does, a lot of very unexpected information gets dumped in his lap.
He handles that badly, often flailing and often thinking primarily of himself and his own interests. Over time, as he gradually grapples with his ableism and gets to know his birth parents a little better (especially Harry,) he goes on an interesting journey. Again, it’s both complicated and uncomfortable. We see him start to feel protective of Harry and Janet, defending them against others and ready to challenge anyone who might treat them badly. But at the same time, his own ableism is far from dealt with, and he has a lot of shame, too: shame at how the medical establishment treated his birth parents, shame at the idea of Harry sleeping with Janet (“How did she ever agree to sex?” he laments when he first meets her,) and shame at being their biological child. His is a tough story, and it frequently isn’t pretty to watch.
Accent Watch
Northern.
Recommend?
In General – I hesitate to. As I said, this TV movie does do some interesting things, but for me, some of the language and attitudes on display are too ugly to recommend it.
Christopher Eccleston – Not a must. Eccleston rises well to the challenges of the film, and he’s generous in scenes with Kirby and Cockin, but he has enough strong performances in better films that you could do without this one.
Warnings
Language (including ableist slurs and some sexist jokes,) drinking/smoking, sexual references, and thematic elements.
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