Necessary Parties (1988)

poignant story on divorce

_Necessary_Parties_ illuminates a window on the innocent victims of divorce -- the children. Chris Mills, a 14-year old boy, hires a jaded part-time attorney to derail his parents martial dissolution proceedings. The film creates a nuanced portrait of the protagonist Chris and Corelli, his auto-mechanic lawyer. The grandfather and a class chum add comic relief. Other performances seem a tad more mixed. The mother figure seems rather detached even for the character portrayed and the father figure resembles a caricature, spouting platitudes that divorcing parents invariably say and cannot possibly mean. (This isn't a reflection of the acting, but of the script.)

Amidst the pressures brought on by within the court, the law, his parents and the school, Chris continues against the odds to plead his case. And they are long odds indeed, for as the judge points out towards the end, the law provides no remedy against mutual or even unilateral divorce. Finally, the pain Chris and his kid-sister Jenny feel move both father and mother to reconcile and renew their commitment to their family.

The film provides a glimpse at family law and merges a facet of contract law. Generally, legal issues were far more accurately introduced than in _The_Rain_Maker_. One jarring note was the intimidating meeting between Chris and his father's lawyer Davis, which nowadays might be sanctionable, since Davis knew the boy was represented by counsel. One minor concession that WonderWorks made to the PC crowd was the obligatory anti-smoking campaign aimed at the father (despite being a fitness freak) that intermittantly seeped in.

_Necessary_Parties_ points to the thoughtless selfishness of most divorces -- caused by an intellectual dishonesty in refusal to acknowledge that this legal racket injures children, or that the public ought not expect couples to fulfill their martial obligations. The film is a heart-warming story that ought to be watched by all persons contemplating family dissolution. June 22, 2001

thoughtful family drama

_Necessary_Parties_ illuminates a window on the innocent victims of divorce -- the children. Chris Wells, a 14-year old boy, hires a jaded part-time attorney to derail his parents martial dissolution proceedings. The film creates a nuanced portrait of the protagonist Chris and his auto-mechanic lawyer. The grandfather and one class chum add comic relief. Other performances seem a tad more mixed. The mother figure seems rather detached even for the character portrayed and the father figure presents a mere caricature, spouting platitudes that divorcing parents invariably say and cannot possibly mean.

Amidst the pressures brought on by within the court, the law, his family and his school, Chris continues against the odds to plead his case. And they are long odds indeed, for as the judge points out towards the end, the law provides no remedy against mutual or even unilateral divorce. Finally, the pain Chris and his kid-sister feel move both father and mother to reconcile and renew their commitment to their family.

The film provides a glimpse at family law and merges a facet of contract law. Generally, legal issues were far more accurately introduced than in _The_Rain_Maker_. One jarring note was the poignant meeting between Chris and his father's lawyer, which nowadays might be sanctionable, since the lawyer knew the boy was represented by counsel. One minor concession that WonderWorks made to the PC crowd was the obligatory anti-smoking admonition aimed at the father (despite being a fitness freak) that intermittantly seeped in.

_Necessary_Parties_ points to the thoughtless selfishness of most divorces -- caused by an intellectual dishonesty in refusal to acknowledge that this legal racket injures children, or that the public ought not expect couples to fulfill their martial obligations. The film is a heart-warming story that ought to be watched by all persons contemplating dissolution. June 20, 2001

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