Customer Reviews

An Early Frost

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The first TV movie to deal with AIDS, this outstanding, thoughtful and undeniably powerful drama is about a young, successful gay lawyer who learns he is HIV-positive and decides to confront his family with both his sexuality and illness. Aidan Quinn gives a sensitive, commanding performance in the lead role and Gena Rowlands, Ben Gazzara and especially Sylvia Sydney offer strong support as, respectively, Quinn's mother, father and grandmother; and John Glover is remarkable as Victor, a dying AIDS patient. Get the tissues and get ready to cry! This movie is fantastic! I still can't believe it was made over 15 years ago. Just amazing!

We now have August of 2001, and I'm already angry at myself that I'm only getting around to seeing this 1985 milestone AIDS film today! I work in the television industry, and I must say that I feel proud that a major network like NBC had the guts to produce a film this sensitive and revolutionary for its time. It truly makes a valiant attempt (and succeeds for the most part) to make AIDS an every-day, living room topic without ever getting too sticky or maudlin about it. Even though this was really in the stone-age of AIDS, it's amazing how right-on it was in so many areas. The only thing that feels dated now, is the lack of therapeutic possibilities, which we have today, but my God, we just all lived through 20 years of Hell, and only now - recently - have a shimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. The writing team had great insight and foresight.

That said, now the silly TV producer side of me needs to have it's say: I wish that the script had gone one round with a good dialog doctor. There are moments, where - despite the AMAZING cast - that I did have to cringe. It was always a matter of sticky dialog, but - believe me - not the heart, soul, or deeper truth of the piece.

This film might be somewhat old, but it is still incredibly valid, and is heads-and-shoulders over most films of its genre. I'm sure that the executives at NBC who gave the green light for this production are long gone, but I raise my glass to you for your courage and for your vision. I hope that some day I feel the same way about the programs that I have worked on. Bravo!

Considering that this was a television movie, made in the the relatively early stages of the epidemic, "An Early Frost" is especially impressive. Yes the scenes between the Lawyer and his boyfriend are awkward, but the performances are outstanding. Aidan Quinn, as Michael, has never been better and the late Sylvia Sidney is wonderful as his grandmother. Gena Rowlands is excellent as usual, but the most surprising performance comes from Ben Gazarra as Michael's father. As a tough, blue-collar disciplinarian, Gazarra is repulsed by his son's lifestyle but eventually accepts him. The best scene in the film, and the riskiest, is the confrontation between Michael and his father in the garage. Much better than later films such as "Philadelphia."

An Early Frost is about a young, successful man whose life is cut short due to the insidous HIV/AIDS virus. This made for TV movie humanizes the disease by showing the emotional ups and downs of both the victim and those who love him. His father who is against his life style is beyond angry, while his supportive mother becomes his unwavering anchor during his darkest hours. An Early Frost allowed viewers to see AIDS up close and personal in the privacy of their homes. Viewers of this movie might also want to check out And The Band Played On. This latter film went into much more detail than An Early Frost. However, An Early Frost was the first glimpse of AIDS that many of us got to see.

This film on AIDS is still very strong today because we still don't have a cure to the disease and the treatments we have developed seem to make the younger generation careless. In this case the main character is gay and the film deals with the revelation of his gay-ness to his family and the subsequent difficulties the members of this family encounter to face this reality. What's more the prejudices against AIDS victims or patients are analyzed in full details and they seem to be tremendously horrible and horrifying, especially within the family, the father or the sister, and even among medical personnel, like ambulance drivers who refuse to take him to the hospital. Death is very well emphasized as the only possible end, but then the film is about rebuilding resistance and the will to survive in the patients who have to know that it is in vain, even if for a couple of years or even more they can go on doing things and bringing themselves up to the world and give the world their last achievements. An extremely emotional film.

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Like "Philadelphia", "An Early Frost" is a very moving and real portrayal of what it was like back in the 80s and having to deal with this dreaded 'gay' disease before society as a whole had the information on it that we do today. The all-star cast was superb. What I liked about it is that the main character, played by Aidan Quinn, was not stereotyped as an effiminite queen, because there are hundreds of thousands of gays that are not what is considered 'flaming'. An awesome movie about what has become an awful worldwide pandemic. Superbly done.

By 1985 AIDS was making life very difficult for Gay Men. Histeria about the disease was running rampant, and
it seemed that very day we not only learned of someone new coming down with AIDS, but rumors ran than you could be infected from tears to sharing the same bathroom, add to this was the falsehood that everyone who contracted AIDS was wildly sexual and someone deserved what they got.

Hollywood was going through it's own denial issues about AIDS, when finally this made for TV movie was created. An Early Frost painted a very real picture of what many AIDS patients were going through, not only did the have to break the news to their famalies, in many cases they were not open about their sexuality, so they wound up coming out of the closet, and disclosing their illness in tandem.

Aiden Quinn plays a young lawyer who winds up in this very situation, his lover played by DW Moffett is unkown to his family and to his colleagues at the firm as well. Gena Rowlands and Ben Garaza as his parents
struggle through the news, and his Grandmother played by Sylvia Sydney becomes his mother rock to lean on.
Sydney Walsh plays his sister who knew all along about her brother being Gay, but then turns on him when he reveals his illness with her.

In particular there are a number of exceptional scenes including the Father, and Lover meeting in the living room, they each aknowledge not knowing about his "other life" Ben Gazarra then looks up and says "why could it have not been you", and near the end of the film Aiden Quinn attempts suicide, only to be rescued by his father, who clearly does not want his son to die.

Through the film you see first hand what many AIDS patients lived through including Hospital food trays being left in hallways, and ambulance crews refusing to transport them.

A standout performance goes out to John Glover, as Vincent. Vincent is a patient with advanced AIDS, and yet manages to maintain his dignity, and humor and in the process becomes a role model for those stricken.

One of the best TV shows ever.

Ken

This groundbreaking 1985 movie directed by John Erman won 4 Emmys (it was nominated for 14) and a Golden Globe for its very accurate, informative and powerful portrayal of what it meant to receive an AIDS diagnosis back in the early 80s. Though others followed shortly after, (Philadelphia, And the Band Played On, Longtime Companion, A Mother's Prayer, Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story), this was really the first major movie to confront the issue head on. I came across it on one of those lifestyle cable channels a few months ago. You know the kind; the kind that's up there in the high hundreds, the kind that only desperate housewives, the terminally unemployed, people skiving off work or people with no social lives watch. (Guess which category I fit into). As usual, I caught it halfway through but I found the subject matter so intriguing; I knew I had to get the DVD.

Michael (played by Aidan Quinn) is a successful lawyer; he just got made partner but he's forced to tell his parents that he is gay and living with another man when he finds out he has AIDS. The movie details how his family grapples with this devastating news. For them, it's shattering on two fronts: for one, it begins to dawn on them that dreams they had for their child will now never be realised and that secondly, he is most certainly going to die before they do. We watch as both parents ponder - how does one's own child grow into someone one barely knows? Someone one knows next to nothing about?

There are some very good performances here, particularly from Quinn himself, from Ben Gazzara who plays the part of Nick, Michael's dad (his disgust at learning of his son's homosexuality is almost palpable), from John Glover who plays the irrepressible Victor DiMato and from Sylvia Sidney who plays Bea, Michael's darling but tough old bird of a grandmother. (Also to look out for is "Lost" star Terry O'Quinn - when he still had hair!)

It's totally an 80s movie but while the clothes, cars and interior décor are all of their time, the issues raised here are just as relevant today as they were 22 years ago. I'm talking about the ignorance, shame, stigma, fear, rejection, homophobia and all manner of prejudice (even among healthcare professionals who really ought to know better) that are all part of the package of life for anyone who is gay and/or living with HIV. Advancements in medical treatments mean that an HIV diagnosis does not necessarily mean an AIDS diagnosis is imminent and it certainly doesn't necessarily equate to a death sentence any more - at least not if you're lucky live in the developed world - but all these issues are still very much with us.

Anyway, it's definitely worth a look even if it's to see what the issues are. Like I said at the top, the information is surprisingly accurate and up to date considering when the movie was made and there are even subtitles (or closed captioning, as it's known in the US) for anyone wishing to take notes. I certainly did and I thought I knew all I needed to know about the subject. The movie is heavily sanitised for a mainstream audience though and the two lovers barely touch. Hardly realistic but I guess I can understand why.

DVD extras include a theatrical trailer, commentary with Aidan Quinn and associate producers Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman (who also wrote the screenplay) and a harrowing but very honest and matter-of-fact 1986 documentary called "Living with AIDS" about a young man from San Francisco called Todd Coleman. Todd died of AIDS aged only 21 and the documentary tells of the various friends, loved ones, professionals and volunteers who cared for him up until his untimely death.

Soapbox minute alert: Today, the 1st of December, is World AIDS Day or AIDS Awareness Day (pure coincidence, I promise) and there'll be a lot of global activity, with people wearing red ribbons and raising money for HIV/AIDS projects and such and that's all great stuff.

But you know how they say a puppy is for life and not just for Christmas? Well, unlike World AIDS Day, HIV infection isn't a one-day thing either. It too is for life. So be safe and protect yourself.

Soapbox minute over.

This movie should be seen by everyone. The acting is great and it will touch you right in your heart. A must see.

I am very impressed with this movie. It addressed an issue of major importance in a time when that was "just not done". It is sensitive and moving. It does not condone nor condemn, it simply tries to present an objective view of a very serious issue - AIDS.
The acting was well above average. The emotions and fears of everyone involved were extremely evident. It drives home the circumstances in life that these people had to deal with.
It also allows us to look back to 1985 and see just how far we have come with the treatment of AIDS. The facts presented were certainly relevant and "right-on" for the time. It also allows us to see the courage it took for the actors and networks to produce and broadcast this movie in a time when it could have back-fired. It has the same message as "AS IS" and "Longtime Companion", but presented in a very different manner. I strongly recommend this movie if you want to try to honestly and objectively understand the people - parents, doctors, society, and certainly the patients - involved with AIDS.