What Makes A Family ( )
Tonight at 9 p.m. on Lifetime
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MY first thought when I received a copy of “What Makes A Family,” tonight’s Lifetime made-for-TV-based-on-real-life movie with Brooke Sheilds and Whoppi Goldberg was that it was the latest Hollywood lesbian of the month movie.
Oh no, I prayed, not another thing like that mostly horrible HBO movie, “If These Walls Could Talk II,” with among others, Sharon Stone. I thought that one was so ridiculously exploitative, that it was to lesbians what blacksploitation films were to civil rights.
Apparently it’s not considered pornographic if it’s famous women doing “it” to other famous women.
In fact, the Anne Heche segment (directed and written by her and starring Ellen DeGeneres) was so bad, it must have driven her back to men. It should have driven her to the Famous Writer’s School instead.
Anyway, I figured “What Makes A Family” which was produced by Barbra Streissand and Whoppi Goldberg, and stars gorgeous Brooke Shields was going to be another one of those. I was 100% wrong.
This is one hell of a tearjerker. In fact, it’s a tearjerker worthy of Bette Davis – and Shields and co-star Cherry Jones are so good they break your heart.
This is the story of Janine Nielssen and Sandy Cataldi, two women who meet in Florida and fall in love. Sheilds, much to her credit, wears not a stitch of makeup and has unstyled hair. In other words, she looks like most of us look when we’re not starring in TV movies.
They even have a ceremony, much like a marriage, performed by a minister. Sandy’s parents (Anne Meara and Al Waxman) are thrilled that their daughter has found someone to love. Janine’s parents on the other hand are horrified.
Sandy is desperate to have a baby, and they decide she should be artificially inseminated. Again, Sandy’s parents are thrilled.
When little Heather is born, life seems idyllic – until the christening when Sandy faints. Now you know, no one ever coughs or faints in a movie if it isn’t going to be fatal. Sandy develops a fatal form of Lupus.
Anyway, after Sandy dies, the loving Cataldi’s decide that little Heather should live with them, because they are blood and Janine is nothing. Suddenly they hate lesbians, the big phonies.
The Florida court, which at that time forbade homosexuals from adopting, agreed with them.
After much begging and pleading, a high profile civil rights attorney (Goldberg) steps in and takes the case to court.
The acting is first rate, so is the direction, and even the production. I’d say Brava! but it sounds too much like that other network’s title.
Jones’ and Shields’ deserve to win things for this.
Believe me, I started crying about 15 minutes into it and I didn’t stop.
Actually, I’m still a mess.