''The Twilight of the Golds'' is an American drama film directed by Ross Kagan Marks, based upon the play ''

The Twilight of the Golds ''The Twilight of the Golds'' is a play by Jonathan Tolins and produced by Charles H. Duggan that premiered at the Pasadena Playhouse on January 17, 1993. Strong reviews propelled it to theatres across the country including a stop at The Kennedy C ...

'' by Jonathan Tolins. The film was screened at the January 1997

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

prior to its broadcast premiere on

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

in March 1997. The cast includes

Jennifer Beals Jennifer Beals (born December 19, 1963) is an American actress and former teen model. She made her film debut in ''My Bodyguard'' (1980), before receiving critical acclaim for her role in ''Flashdance'' (1983), for which she won NAACP Image Awa ...

Brendan Fraser Brendan James Fraser ( ; born December 3, 1968) is an American-Canadian actor known for his leading roles in blockbusters, comedies, and dramatic films. Having graduated from the Cornish College of the Arts in 1990, he made his film debut in '' ...

Garry Marshall Garry Kent Marshall (November 13, 1934 – July 19, 2016) was an American filmmaker and actor. He started his career in the 1960s writing for ''The Lucy Show'' and ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' before he developed Neil Simon's 1965 play ''The Odd Co ...

Faye Dunaway Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Faye Dunaway, many accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden ...

and

Jon Tenney Jonathan Frederick Tenney (born December 16, 1961) is an American actor. He played Special Agent Fritz Howard in TNT's ''The Closer'' and continued in its spinoff '' Major Crimes''. Early life Tenney was born in Princeton, New Jersey. His mother, ...

. The film deals with the issue of fictional genetic testing, and asks the question – if testing could reveal the sexual orientation of your unborn child, and you knew he or she would be gay, would you abort?

Plot

Suzanne and her husband Rob are thrilled to discover she's pregnant. Rob is a doctor specializing in genetic research, so they run full tests on the fetus. Suzanne discovers that although she has a healthy baby, the boy will most likely be born gay. Rob and Suzanne are no longer thrilled. Do they really want a gay child? Is it better to spare him a life of societal marginalizing? Suzanne talks to her parents about the revelation and tells them she is considering aborting the

fetus A fetus or foetus (; plural fetuses, feti, foetuses, or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo. Following embryonic development the fetal stage of development takes place. In human prenatal development, fetal deve ...

, much to the dismay of her gay brother David, whose sexual orientation has never been fully accepted by his conservative family. David cuts off communication with his parents when they can’t deny that they too, might have considered abortion under similar circumstances. Suzanne chooses to have the baby, though this leads to a break-up with her husband, who does not wish to raise a gay son.

Cast

as Walter Gold *

as Phyliss Gold *

as David Gold *

as Suzanne Stein *

as Rob Stein *

John Schlesinger John Richard Schlesinger (; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''Midnight Cowboy'', and was nominated for the same award for two other films ('' Darling'' an ...

as Dr. Adrian Lodge *

Rosie O'Donnell Roseann O'Donnell (born March 21, 1962) is an American comedian, television producer, actress, author, and television personality. She began her comedy career as a teenager and received her breakthrough on the television series ''Star Search'' ...

as Jackie *

Sean O'Bryan Sean Michael O'Bryan (born September 10, 1963) is an American film and television actor from Louisville, Kentucky. He attended and graduated from St. Xavier High School. Career He co-starred with William Ragsdale on the series '' Brother' ...

as Steven (David's boyfriend)

Critical reception

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' criticized the acting, saying "Beals is way out of her depth...Dunaway is ludicrously miscast...Fraser is too WASP-y, while Rosie O’Donnell turns up to deliver snappy comic relief as Suzanne's co-worker". Although they did concede the movie was "pacey and watchable". ''

The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...

'' wasn't particularly impressed with the acting either, describing Fraser as pulling out the stops too far; "the character is far from the mincing prototypical Hollywood homosexual of yore, but you still come away with the feeling that Fraser's earnest speechifying and flip tantrums are a charade". They also stated that, "Marshall and Dunaway, who play the embittered parents with such an overload of whiny Jewish guilt that you end up wanting to slap them". They rated the film two out of five stars. The review in ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' complained that "there is a lot of screaming in this TV movie...Director Ross Marks must think that having his actors yelling their lines will make the audience understand them better, and the overwrought performances ruin an interesting premise". They also gave the film two out of five stars. ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' was a little more forgiving of the acting, stating " Fraser and Marshall invest their broadly written roles with remarkable depth, while Dunaway's fluttering pretensions to yenta-ism are singularly unconvincing". John J. O'Connor however was convinced the acting was very good, writing in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''; " Mr. Fraser is especially outstanding as David, the dedicated outsider always willing to walk through the magic fire that might awaken another part of the soul. Ms. Beals manages to give the irritatingly indecisive Suzanne a sheen of sympathy. Mr. Marshall is blisteringly on target as the father and, in the most unexpected bit of casting, Ms. Dunaway is a wonderfully impossible but irresistible Jewish mother". Historian Stephen Tropiano wrote in his book, ''The Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV'', that "this overwrought family drama is marred by serious overacting via the miscast Faye Dunaway and Garry Marshall as Jewish parents", but said Jennifer Beals was a "stand out performance".

Nominations and awards

Satellite Award The Satellite Awards are annual awards given by the International Press Academy that are commonly noted in entertainment industry journals and blogs. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards. The award ceremonies take place ...

for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television (Jennifer Beals, winner) *

CableACE The CableACE Award (earlier known as the ACE Awards; ACE was an acronym for "Award for Cable Excellence") is a defunct award that was given by what was then the National Cable Television Association from 1978 to 1997 to honor excellence in Amer ...

Award for Supporting Actress in a Movie or Miniseries (Faye Dunaway, nominated) *

Screen Actors Guild Award Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1952 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...

for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries (Faye Dunaway, nominated) *

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their live ...

for Outstanding Made for TV Movie (nominated) https://www.humanitasprize.org The screenplay was also nominated for the prestigious Humanitas Prize, an award for film and television writing intended to promote human dignity, meaning, and freedom.

References

External links