'Family Sins' is a very sad film about how emotional abuse of a child can be every bit as damaging as physical or sexual abuse and that blatant favouritism should have no place in a loving family.
The film centred the Williams' who, on the surface, appear to be your typical all-American family with mother Kate, father Gordon and their two young sons, eleven-year-old Bryan and nine-year-old Keith. Gordon is an over-bearing man who values being seen as strong, sporty and well-respected in men so it's natural he finds it very easy to adore his youngest son Keith, an energetic, boisterous child with a talent for sport and who hero-worships his father. Gordon's relationship with his older son is more troubled as sensitive Bryan would rather play with computers or read a book so finds his father pushing him into physical activities hard to cope with. Inevitably, he continually clashes with his father, watching enviously as Gordon turns around and lavishes love and attention on Keith. But when Keith drowns in a boating accident, Bryan's part in the death is called into question and Gordon and Kate must face the truth over just how far a jealous, angry child can be pushed before he snaps.
James Farentino is very effective in portraying man who uses attention as a reward for winning and who is not at all above showing his bitter disappointment in having a quiet, reserved son in Bryan. There is something very cruel in how he deliberately pits his sons against each other, playing on Keith's devotion to him as a way of needling Bryan. Jill Eikenberry's Kate is depicted as a woman who sees the hurt her husband is causing Bryan and though she confronts him on occasion, she never really acts until it is too late for both the boys. It is Thomas Wilson Brown, as Bryan, who really carries the film. His performance shows us a boy who is angry, pained and confused over his relationship with his father and we see how every time his father blatantly fawns over Keith, it's like a blow to him. It's clear this boy did love his younger brother but their fraternal bond was being poisoned by their father.
'Family Sins' is a film into the darker side of family life and how favouritism of one child over another can be devastating and can have life-long consequences (if Keith had not died, Bryan would have grown up always feeling second best in his father's life and that is something no child should feel). Gordon may never beaten his sons but his bullying damaged Bryan just as much as a battering would have. It evident from what Bryan does to the rabbit that this is a boy with emotional problems from the onset, whether that is something inherent to him from birth or is his father's doing is never addressed. It would have added more to the story had we known just what motivated him, if he was mentally ill and Gordon's treatment just shoved him over the edge or whether it was growing up with a cold, over-bearing father that left him staying his hand during Keith's drowning.
This isn't a very happy film, especially as we know there can never really be a joyous resolution for Bryan and his family, but it is very insightful into the repercussions of growing up with bullying and/or favouritism.
The film centred the Williams' who, on the surface, appear to be your typical all-American family with mother Kate, father Gordon and their two young sons, eleven-year-old Bryan and nine-year-old Keith. Gordon is an over-bearing man who values being seen as strong, sporty and well-respected in men so it's natural he finds it very easy to adore his youngest son Keith, an energetic, boisterous child with a talent for sport and who hero-worships his father. Gordon's relationship with his older son is more troubled as sensitive Bryan would rather play with computers or read a book so finds his father pushing him into physical activities hard to cope with. Inevitably, he continually clashes with his father, watching enviously as Gordon turns around and lavishes love and attention on Keith. But when Keith drowns in a boating accident, Bryan's part in the death is called into question and Gordon and Kate must face the truth over just how far a jealous, angry child can be pushed before he snaps.
James Farentino is very effective in portraying man who uses attention as a reward for winning and who is not at all above showing his bitter disappointment in having a quiet, reserved son in Bryan. There is something very cruel in how he deliberately pits his sons against each other, playing on Keith's devotion to him as a way of needling Bryan. Jill Eikenberry's Kate is depicted as a woman who sees the hurt her husband is causing Bryan and though she confronts him on occasion, she never really acts until it is too late for both the boys. It is Thomas Wilson Brown, as Bryan, who really carries the film. His performance shows us a boy who is angry, pained and confused over his relationship with his father and we see how every time his father blatantly fawns over Keith, it's like a blow to him. It's clear this boy did love his younger brother but their fraternal bond was being poisoned by their father.
'Family Sins' is a film into the darker side of family life and how favouritism of one child over another can be devastating and can have life-long consequences (if Keith had not died, Bryan would have grown up always feeling second best in his father's life and that is something no child should feel). Gordon may never beaten his sons but his bullying damaged Bryan just as much as a battering would have. It evident from what Bryan does to the rabbit that this is a boy with emotional problems from the onset, whether that is something inherent to him from birth or is his father's doing is never addressed. It would have added more to the story had we known just what motivated him, if he was mentally ill and Gordon's treatment just shoved him over the edge or whether it was growing up with a cold, over-bearing father that left him staying his hand during Keith's drowning.
This isn't a very happy film, especially as we know there can never really be a joyous resolution for Bryan and his family, but it is very insightful into the repercussions of growing up with bullying and/or favouritism.