Consenting Adult (1985)

Young and shy college sophomore Jeff Lynd (Barry Tubb) discovers his attraction to men. After struggling with himself he comes out to his parents with details of his sexual preference. His mother Tess (Marlo Thomas) is shocked beyond belief but eventually listens to her son and tries to understand his feelings. She is convinced that Jeff can be "cured" through psychiatry. However his proud father Ken (Martin Sheen) is unable to accept his son for what he is--as much as he wants to. Recovering from a near-fatal stroke, he feels devastated and betrayed. Only Jeff's married sister Margie (Talia Balsam) approaches the situation with understanding. Ken dies, leaving behind a mother, her son, and his friend to work out the things Jeff and his Dad never had the courage to talk about.

This pre-AIDS TV drama about a gay young man who comes out to his parents is a restrained exploration of the controversial subject. It's a "message" movie filmed on location in Vancouver with too little focus on the gay son. Sheen and Thomas are the stars, and the mother is portrayed as the courageous one, noble enough to offer her hand in friendship, and reassuring when she calls at the end with happiness in her voice. "Consenting Adult" is adapted from the 1975 novel by Laura Z. Hobson, based on her experience with her son, and was first telecast on February 4, 1985. Laurence Rosenthal composed the music, John McGreevey wrote the script based on Hobson's novel, and Gilbert Cates directed.

Ordinary Sinner (2003)

Peter Onorati (Brendan Hines) is a divinity student who questions his calling to the priesthood and drops out of the Episcopal seminary after his failure in counseling a gay youth. He moves into a shack near the campus where his lifelong best friend Alex (Kris Park) is attending college and where Father Ed (A. Martinez), a young Mexican Episcopal priest, has his congregation in the small Vermont college town. Father Ed has been an adviser and friend to Peter for some time and questions Peter's decision to give up his calling. The entire movie is centered around Father Ed, who uses his pulpit to question the preaching of a radical Christian cell on campus that is promoting prejudice and the hatred of homosexuals. He says if the bible states to kill homosexuals, then the town should start with him. His outing eventually results in his death which is surrounded in mystery. We see the aftermath and are forced to confront our prejudices as the details slowly come to light. Peter is impressive as a man who stands up to wrong and attempts to bring justice in the end. This is a murder mystery and the victim is a cliff diver. The murderer takes a rowboat and makes hundreds of trips to pile many rocks in the lake for the victim to hit his head.

Filmed with flashbacks that only make sense as the film draws to a close, the point of the film is to show how things get out of hand with tragic results when someone gets a crazy idea in his head. Ordinary people can end up doing horrible things, hence the title "Ordinary Sinner." It's an intriguing coming-of-age drama with romance, action, and social commentary--a good story, with a flimsy plot not very well told dealing with spiritual faith, sexuality, and homophobia in a small town. The coming out scene of the priest is the best part of this low budget film. Brian Adler composed the music, William Mahone wrote the script, and John Henry Davis directed