Release the week of Aug. 16-22, 1987
CABLE VIEW _|
‘Home Fires’ may be the
best cable movie yet
By Frank Lovece
In “Home Fires,” as in
real life, nothing much
happens but a lot goes on.
This Showtime produc-
tion is nowhere near as
frenetic as the average
TV movie, and in spirit is
closer to feature films
than to TV. The four-
hour, two-part drama de-
buts Sunday and Mon-
day, Aug. 16 and 1
“Home Fires” traces a
few days in the life of
Charlie Ash (Guy Boyd),
a harried attorney whose
last name is most appro-
priate. In court, his integ-
rity finds no favor with a
judge whose mind is al-
ready made up. His first
wife has gone insane and
phones him with dire
warnings from the asy-
lum. His much younger
new wife, Cath (Amy
Steel), is rapidly growing
old trying to raise his
three children. And the
children, unlike typical
TV kids, are just trying to
get by as best they can.
Like a good novel, the
movie (written by Gill
Dennis) takes its time to
define each character
separately. When their
lives converge after the
first half-hour, you al-
ready know them indi-
vidually. And then they
interact so believably
that it’s almost like
eavesdropping on a real
family.
But this is drama, not
real life, and drama re-
quires conflict. While
most TV shows (and most
movies, for that matter)
concentrate on visual
outer conflict, ‘Home
Fires” ingeniously pre-
sents the characters’ in-
ner conflicts. Cath strug-
gles with an unwanted
suitor she’d regretfully
slept with. Elder son Sam
(Max Perlich) carries an
inarticulate frustration
with school and family.
And Charlie tries to build
a negligence case despite
contradictions, misinfor-
mation and shredded
documents.
Because ‘‘Home Fires”
doesn’t move as rapidly
as a TV movie, it takes a
few minutes to appreci-
ate its rhythm. It does
drag at times - director
Michael Uno includes ex-
tended shots of cars turn-
ing into driveways and
people pulling things out
of envelopes, rather than
cutting right to the point.
But his leisurely pace is
deceptive. Soon enough,
the cuts and transitions
between the characters
and their lives takes on
the hectic but muted
rhythm of everyday com-
ings and goings. At four
hours over two nights,
“Home Fires” is not too
long. What it is, perhaps,
is the best made-for-cable
movie yet.