In the Gloaming (1997 TV Movie)
7/10
Bitter/Sweet mother-son relationship explored
12 March 2009
This is a film appropriately named. Many of the exterior shots take place in the gloaming, that lovely space between sunset and the stars coming out. The colours are extraordinary - New England has never looked more lovely drenched in the colours of the seasons in which the film takes place, with a gorgeous windowed house overlooking it all.

This is a story about a family and the shifting of its dynamics when the son comes home to die of AIDS. Whoopi Goldberg (a very small part) is employed as a nurse and the mother (Glenn Close)attempts an exploration of getting to know her son. This is basically the plot.

David Strathearn in a role made for him, plays the father, a man unreconciled to his son's sexual orientation but still very much in love with his wife, a fact which escapes her until her son points it out.

There is an absolutely riveting scene of the mother singing his baby song to her son that had me in tears. It wasn't over sentimentalized in any way, the father overlooking the scene adds to the feeling of his distance from his wife and son. Beautifully done. If I had any fault, it was with the ending. A little too pat.

I would see this again. Glenn Close was never lovelier. 7 out of 10.
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