Customer Reviews

Prodigal Sons

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It is a journey to me that went beyond gender identification. It was a story that had to deal with mental illness caused by an accident. It appears that the mom and Marc's wife had to deal with his mental illness crisis for 10 years. Doctors have been trying to find a combination of medications to help him.

One of the siblings return to attend a reunion only to learn that a new journey was about to begin. What I took away from this film is that even though you may leave your past to start your future, your future can't become complete until you have dealt with the past.

This documentary did leave me teary eyed in several scenes. It was a family who loved each other no matter what. They didn't give up on healing or finding a solution.

I'm not sure if the McKerrow family is unhappy, but they are unique.

The McKerrows were the all-American, 1980s family - a physician father, teacher mother, and three sons living in the all-American city of Helena, Montana. Todd McKerrow was the star of the family - the blonde high school quarterback who seemed destined to follow the conventional path to success when he finished high school in 1985.

The family's story is much more complicated than that, however. At the beginning of the film, viewers see Todd returning for a high school reunion; only Todd has undergone gender reassignment and has become Kimberly Reed. Also attending the reunion is Kimberly's older brother, Marc.

The reunion is the film's focus at first, then, surprisingly, the focus shifts to Marc. Marc was adopted by the McKerrows and he longs to know more about his biological family. Once Marc starts searching for his family, the story has an incredible plot twist. Also, Marc suffers from mental illness and the film includes many graphic scenes illustrating both Marc's problems and his family's attempts to help him.

In simplest terms, Prodigal Sons is about a family struggling to be happy. The McKerrows are all decent people and it is easy for the viewer to cheer for them. Though the film is complex and offers no easy answers, it is always compelling due to its amazing storyline.

At the start, I had modest expectations for Prodigal Sons. There have been so many documentaries that explore gender and sexuality that I thought that the film might seem tired and unoriginal. Happily, I was wrong. Prodigal Sons is amazing - don't miss it.

I streamed this documentary this evening because of it's provacative subject matter and 4 out of 5 average viewer feedback . I was really knocked out . I thought i had a disfuntional family ? This , to my mind , is really brave and emotional and raw film . I was never less than fascinated by all the folks involved . I wish them all well . This is an interesting picture . I couldn't care less if it has an agenda . It's real !

Wonderful story and at times is heartbreaking yet raw and true. I have a transgendered girlfriend and I never would have guessed the misery she endured and the hateful things people have done to her. She is the spirit of perseverance and acceptance and I value her so much. This film is about another such woman who is "BEAUTIFUL INSIDE AND OUT" and an inspirational storyteller..."A CAN'T MISS FILM" for sure!

Unlike many people who have suffered great hardships in life, especially those that are more unique, Kimberly does not waste any time inviting the audience to her own pity-party. Her live documentation of her relationships and interactions with those around her is often touching, sometimes jarring, and definitely memorable.

This is a perfect film for those who might seek a better understanding of the difficulties that trans people face, and those that people with traumatic brain injuries and mental illness battle. It does not overtly attempt to win a skeptical viewer over; rather, the film pointedly demonstrates how anyone can relate to overcoming a transition - whether it be a change in gender, or a change of heart.

I saw this film live at the 2010 Out & Equal Workplace Summit and will be purchasing the DVD to share with my friends.

Thank you Kimberly Reed!

This documentary came to me totally out of left field. I was grazing through my streaming movie service and just happened upon it. It was a thorough and welcome surprise. What starts out as a sincere (if rather standard) coming out film soon reveals itself to be much more. Aside from the very real concerns of Kim Reed presenting herself to those who knew her in her previous life, the film documents a family dealing with the challenges and horrors that transpire when one member (adopted brother Mark) is exhibiting increasingly violent mental illness. On top of everything else, the capper to the film is the revelation of Mark's family history. This is a very human and humane film. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

This documentary starts out being about transexual Kim going home to reunite with her high school friends and re-introduce herself as a woman, rather than the football-playing jock she was in the past. Then it veers off into another totally different story about her adopted brother Marc, who turns out to be Orson Welles' grandson. The trials and tribulations of the family dealing with Marc's emotional/mental/physical issues takes up most of the film. It's very interesting to watch, though painful at times. It will remind anyone of their own difficulties with their roles within the family and how we deal with the past as adults. I recommend it highly.

UPDATE:
I have found another documentary movie on a similar theme that is so much better than Prodigal Sons that I am adding a recommendation here. The movie is Red Without Blue, and it is about identical male twins, one of whom transitions to female. It is as beautiful as this one is ugly, as healing as this one is destructive, and as loving as this one is self-serving and hateful. Also - unlike this one - it gives meaningful insight into the nature and consequences of gender reassignment. Although it is in its own way hard to watch in the beginning because the family are so deeply dysfunctional and unhappy, the reconciliation and healing they experience are transformative to us viewers as well. It is a lovely movie, and I recommend it very, very highly.

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For the first time, I am editing a review after further reflection and taking away its stars. I can no longer say I even like this movie. It is mean-spirited in an underhanded way that Kim Reed is probably not even aware of.

We are so used to seeing the LGBT character in a movie as the victim that we are blindsided when that character is in reality the victimizer. Reed used this movie to attack and expose her adopted brother Marc's truly horrific mental problems, which did nothing good for him but a lot bad.

The moral problem is that Kim is the strong one in that relationship, the gorgeous, charismatic one who all her life had extraordinary advantages and adoration from everybody in her world. Her triumphant return to her home town as a woman and her total acceptance by everybody but Marc makes it obvious that she still operates from a position of extraordinary power in that world.

Kim is NOT the disadvantaged, abused one in this movie: Marc is. The fact that his disadvantages were not in any way the fault of Kim or anybody else in the extraordinarily compassionate McKerrow family, rather the fault of the genes he got from his birth parents, does not excuse anything. She was not abused by Marc as they grew up together, so she had no excuse for exposing his troubles to the world. It was cruel and grossly self-serving: nobody ended the movie better off than when it started except for Kim herself.

Hers is a fascinating story, but instead of sharing HERSELF with the audience, she turned the camera onto her poor, tortured brother whose only offense EVER was to be jealous of her vastly superior advantages. By doing so she inflamed his problems beyond endurance. If she had just left him alone and told her own story instead of his, we all would be very much better off - especially Marc, but even Kim herself, because it would have forced her to descend from her tower of invulnerability and expose herself instead of her poor, tortured, fundamentally innocent brother.

Prodigal Sons is a wonderful & unforgettable film about lessons in unconditional love for people, friends & most importantly family. The best way to watch this film is without knowing much about it. The world loves Carol and Kimberly Reed!

The Prodigal Sons starts off as a documentary where Kim Reed is returning to her to her hometown for her high school reunion. Kim is the filmmaker and she is going back to Montana to meet up with her brother Todd, her adoptive brother Marc, and her mother. Kim is worried that her classmates and friends in Montana will not accept her as Kim, as they have only known her as Paul, the star quarterback and valedictorian of their high school.

Most if not all of her old classmates seem happy to see Kim again and seem acutely interested in learning more about Kim's change from Paul to Kim. In fact, the only person who seems to have an issue with Kim's gender identity issues, is her own brother Marc. Marc suffered a serious brain injury in a car accident and seems stuck in the past - where he felt as though he was living in Paul's shadow. Ironically, Paul/Kim was successful; because, she was desperately trying to hide her transsexuality from everyone around her. Kim wants to forget that Paul ever existed and Marc doesn't seem to be able to let his idolized vision of Paul disappear into the past.

In addition, to Kim's journey we also learn Marc, who was adopted, is the grandson of Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth. While this is an interesting development it is clear that Marc is limited by his brain injury. Marc becomes increasingly violent and angry, possibly as a result of learning his famous lineage and realizing that he will never be able to fully overcome his head injury. In many respects this is a cruel twist of fate. Kim unflinchingly keeps the cameras rolling as Marc self destructs and even violently attacks Kim.

Very interesting story and a wild ride, with family rivalries and a woman coming to terms with her past. We also see the benefit of overcoming major obstacles in life and not letting them limit us.