Review of Firstborn

Firstborn (1984)
6/10
Coming of Age
17 August 2005
(Some Spoilers) There was already trouble brewing at he Livingston home with the husband and father Alan Livingston , Richard Brandon,of the two young boys Jake and Brian, Christopher Collet & Corey Haim,leaving his wife Wendy, Terri Garr, for another woman Joanne, Gayle Harbor. Still you know that something is really hit the fan when the mysterious drifter Sam,Peter Weller, all of a sudden popped up and slowly wormed his way into Wendy's heart and into her home.

The two boys, especially Jake, saw right through Sam's phony front as a former independent contractor now working for this local security firm. In fact Sam was a low echelon coke dealer trying to make it to the big time in the local drug trafficking business.

With Wendy going through a bout of severe depression, by being left by herself, she was more then happy to get someone who she felt was a good husband, or boyfriend, and father to her two boys. Loving towards Wendy and friendly to Jake & Brian at first Sam begins to show his true colors feelings and motives. He tuns the family home into a local drug den where he deals with all these unsavory characters stooping over to buy and sell dope.

As insurance Sam gets Wendy hooked on coke to not only make her more dependent towards him, as her supplier, but also keep her and her boys from reporting him to the police. Sam uses the fear of Wendy's sons knowing that she'll be arrested along with him as a co-conspirator in his drug dealings.

The film "Firstborn" does a good job showing how an American family goes through a crisis period after it's left without it's bread-winner The movie not only reflects on the wife, Wendy, but the two children, Jake & Brian. The ending of the movie was about the only drawback to it by trying to tie everything together and make things Right. Not only for the Livingston family but even for Sam ,who despite being kicked out of the house, doesn't end up dead or even thrown behind bars for his criminal actions.
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