Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		2.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Firstborn Blu-ray Movie Review

Where's Rumpelstiltskin when you really need him?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 18, 2012

Chances are at some point in your life either your Mother or your Father, or perhaps both, engaged in reciting what seem to be variations on a universal parental mantra, usually something like either “Life isn’t fair” or “There are no guarantees in life”. Interestingly, and no doubt not coincidentally, those very statements are made in Firstborn, and in fact the film starts out with a proto-1980’s rock tune by The Nobodys called “No Guarantees”. While there are obvious thematic connections to these ideas in the film, one might be tempted to look outside the film a bit and wonder about life’s inequities, at least as they’ve been visited upon Firstborn’s star, Teri Garr. In the 1980’s Garr seemed poised to become one the shining lights of the industry, a gifted actress who was obviously a spritely comedienne, but who also seemed to have some untapped dramatic depths as well, as Firstborn itself proves quite admirably. With several huge hit films under her belt, including Young Frankenstein and her Oscar nominated turn in Tootsie, Garr had proven box office appeal and also had a long history as a dancer and singer that seemingly only widened her prospects. But the vagaries of show business are legendary, and even before Garr shared the sad news in 2002 that she was battling multiple sclerosis, her career seemed to have stalled, if not outright stopped, with few A-list films to her credit and few if any roles that really stretched her talents much if at all. A further health scare with a brain aneurysm confined Garr to a wheelchair for a time, and though she’s bravely battled back from both that and her MS predicament, she hasn’t made a film since 2007 and may end up being best remembered for her 1970’s and 1980’s oeuvre. Firstborn is at first (and perhaps even second) glance a rather odd entry in the Garr filmography, a melodrama positing Garr’s character of Wendy as an abused divorcée too desperate for a man in her life to see the harm that man is inflicting not just on her but on her two sons.

Firstborn is also a rather odd entry in its director’s filmography. Britisher Michael Apted is probably best known for his incredible Up documentary series (not to be confused with the Pixar animated film), as well as the James Bond outing The World is Not Enough. Apted has directed a hugely disparate variety of films, everything from the quasi- biographical mystery Agatha, about Agatha Christie’s famous disappearance, to more standard biopics like Coal Miner’s Daughter and Gorillas in the Mist to thrillers like Gorky Park (the film he made right before Firstborn). But Firstborn is in essence a melodrama, and a not very subtle one at that. Apted’s touch is apparent, though, especially in the opening act, when the seemingly normal domestic life of Wendy (Garr) and sons Jake (Christopher Collet) and Brian (Corey Haim, in his film debut) is essayed rather winningly. There are currents of discontent running right beneath the surface, especially when Wendy’s ex-husband shows up briefly to take the boys on a quick vacation.

Wendy’s realization that there is no rapprochement in store with her ex probably leads her into the arms of Sam (Peter Weller), a good looking guy who nonetheless seems to have more big dreams than actual accomplishments. There’s an interesting middle act here where Jake and Brian initially distrust this new interloper in their lives, but are slowly won over by his “stepfatherly” attitude, only to see their trust dissolve as Sam’s demons begin rearing their rather ugly heads. Once Sam’s problems are made manifest, the film devolves into hyperbolic dramatics that become increasingly hard to believe, let alone stomach. (In a bit unintentional irony, one of the film's major subplots deals with a certain controlled substance that later became a problem for Robert Downey, Jr.)

While Firstborn is undeniably engrossing, it’s also kind of like a smarmier version of a Lifetime made for television movie (and note that its producers are longtime television honchos Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas and its scenarist Ron Koslow is best known for his episodic television writing). The film is perhaps more notable to contemporary audiences for its introduction of Corey Haim, as well as two supporting turns by who were then very young and relatively unknown actors, Robert Downey, Jr. and Sarah Jessica Parker. The performances are in fact probably the best thing about the film, even if Weller’s increasingly psychopathic take on his drug addled character becomes a bit much by the film’s climactic (and patently ludicrous) third act.

It’s almost unsettling to see an actress of Garr’s grace and poise subjected to the treatment her character is in this film, and there will no doubt be many watching Firstborn who are tempted to scream at Wendy for being such a dunderheaded fool. It’s to Garr’s credit that Wendy’s predicament, though largely self inflicted, seems so plausible, at least for the most part. Koslow hedges his bets a bit by the film’s end, though, positing a sort of anticlimactic dissipation of dramatic energy that seems to recognize he’s taken these characters about as far as they can go, and it’s better to simply fade out. While the film at least doesn't stoop to the level of having the villain suddenly become violent again (in the best horror movie tradition), it's an oddly unsatisfying wrap up to a film that is more than anything just that: oddly unsatisfying.

Firstborn Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Firstborn is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. What is it about 1980's film stock that is so damnably ugly so much of the time? While the elements here seem to be in rather good shape, this high definition transfer is rather soft and shoddy looking a lot of the time, with indistinct fine object detail and an overall gauzy appearance a lot of the time which is not helped by wildly inconsistent contrast, murky shadow detail and milky black levels. Colors are frequently garish, and reds tilt toward the orange side of things more often than not. Grain approaches digital noise levels throughout this presentation, but I have a hunch this is more or less exactly what the film looked like in its theatrical exhibition (I confess I never saw the film in theaters).

Firstborn Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Firstborn's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mix is fairly unremarkable, though it also has little to really complain about. The source music cues sound reasonably vigorous. (It's fun if a bit sad to hear a tune by a little remembered band from my hometown of Portland, Billy Rancher and the Unreal Gods. Billy seemed to be on the verge of superstardom but was sadly sidelined and then ultimately died at a very young age from lymphoma.) Dialogue is fairly crisp and clean and the track is well prioritized, though there really isn't much here to write home about, either good or bad. Fidelity is fine, and dynamic range is decently wide.

Firstborn Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Olive Films release has no supplements of any kind.

Firstborn Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Firstborn is a strange little film, one that builds its inconsistent melodramatic energy in fits and starts before tipping over the edge into a kind of Grand Guignol windup that sees Weller chewing the scenery even as he beats the living crap out of everybody in sight. What an odd choice for a director of Michael Apted's aptitude to make, but Apted does elicit uniformly fine performances out of everyone. What, though, is the ultimate point of Koslow's screenplay? If it's something as sanguine as "life isn't fair", it's an awfully smarmy way to make that obvious point. This film would have done better to have exulted in its Lifetime-esque roots (even if the film predates that cable channel's existence by several years), and let Wendy and her sons have some real down home vengeance on their tormentor instead of basically waving bye bye to him at the end of the film. This Blu-ray offers underwhelming video and acceptable audio. Cultists may want to check it out for the early work by Downey, Parker and Haim, as well as the chance to see Garr in a rare dramatic role.