Product Details

• Actors: Glenn Close, James Woods, Mary Stuart Masterson, Kevin Dillon, Linda Darlow
• Directors: Jonathan Kaplan
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English (Unknown)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• DVD Release Date: April 22, 2003
• Run Time: 99 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00008J2EA
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #22,565 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Few subjects for film are as fat with moral and emotional complexity as human infertility, and the 1989 Immediate Family is an interesting, serio-comic example. Glenn Close and James Woods star as the Spectors, an aging, professional couple who can't conceive on their own. After meeting an unmarried and pregnant 17-year-old girl named Lucy (Mary Stuart Masterson), the Spectors decide to care for her until she hands over her baby to them for adoption. Everything goes according to plan until Lucy and her boyfriend (Kevin Dillon) make the bold decision that they don't want to part with their child, leaving the Spectors twisting in the wind until collective love and wisdom find a way out of this predicament. Directed by Jonathan Kaplan (The Accused), Immediate Family has an honest appeal and attractive performances, but is also noteworthy for its counterintuitive casting of a fiery Woods as a bland, conventional lead. --Tom Keogh

Product Description
Academy Award® nominees Glenn Close (Fatal Attraction Best Actress in a Leading Role - 1988) and James Woods (Salvador Best Actor in a Leading Role - 1986) are Michael and Linda Spector a mature successful couple who have everything it takes to be parents ... except a baby. Mary Stuart Masterson (Fried Green Tomatoes) and Kevin Dillon (True Crime Midnight Clear) are Lucy and Sam a teenage couple who have a baby on the way ... but aren't ready to be parents. Director Jonathan Kaplan (Heart Like a Wheel) and screenwriter Barbara Benedek (The Big Chill) mix laughter and tears in this funny uplifting look at two very different couples who unexpectedly find a common bond and ultimately bring out the best in each other. Dazzling funny performances bring a touching humanity to this slice-of-life comedy with a big heart.System Requirements:Running Time: 99 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG-13 UPC: 043396100473 Manufacturer No: 10047

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved it from beginning to end, July 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Immediate Family [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I really enjoyed this movie. Being a parent I can understand the longing to have a child and not being able to. Up until the time that I saw Immediate Family I had never seen Woods and Close in this type of role. They were great. I also loved the music. If you're sentimental like myself, pull out the hankie.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two Thumbs Up!, April 8, 2001

By	"kateaka" (Kersey, Pa United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Immediate Family [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Immediate Family is about a wealthy couple who have every thing they ever dreamed except...a baby. After several failed attempts a getting pregnant the couple find an unmarried teen couple who are about to have a baby but know they cannot support it. This is a mixture of drama and suspense and a film that the whole family would enjoy. Rent it today!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A poignant family drama, June 23, 2008

By	z hayes (plano,texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

I watched this touching movie today and was absolutely riveted from start to finish. Glenn Close and James Woods play a successful couple who after 11 years of marriage still find themselves unable to have a child. They tire of medical attempts and finally decide to adopt a child. Mary Stuart Masterson and Kevin Dillon play teen parents-to-be who realise they can't raise a kid and decide to give their soon to be born baby up for adoption.

This is an emotionally heart-wrenching movie about the joys and pitfalls of adopting, on both the biological and adoptive parents. All the lead actors have done an amazing job in portraying the emotional fragility that each character goes through in the process. Glenn Close is so subtle yet riveting in her performance as a woman desperately yearning to have a baby and experience motherhood. It is a performance I shall not forget anytime soon. Her husband as played by James Woods is tender and credible in his role. Mary Stuart Masterson conveys all the fears and hopes of an unwed teen mother with a high degree of realism.

All in all, this is a wonderfully poignant family drama that will touch your heart.