Firstborn poster & wallpaper
Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Teri Garr, Peter Weller, Christopher Collet, Corey Haim, Sarah Jessica Parker ... see more see more... , Richard Brandon , James Harper , Richard E. Szlasa , Larry Atlas , Ellen Barber , Robert Downey Jr. , Christopher Gartin , Josh Hamilton , Gayle Harbor , Sarah Inglis , Beverly W. May , Billy Anagnos , Frank Ferrara , Jery Hewitt , Scott Wilder , Vebe Borge , Joseph M. Costa , Brian Lima , Christopher Russo

A teenager and his kid brother spar with their mother's shady new boyfriend in this dramatic thriller from veteran British director Michael Apted. When her ex-husband remarries, Wendy (Teri Garr) feel... read more read more...s despondent -- until she starts dating handsome, unctuous Sam (Peter Weller), an underemployed salesman with no shortage of big ideas. Excited to finally feel good about herself again, Wendy invites Sam to move in and offers to invest in his get-rich-quick schemes. None of this sits well with her sons, Jake (Christopher Collet) and Brian (Corey Haim), who remain unimpressed with Sam even after he convinces Wendy to buy Jake a motorbike. They're even less jazzed when Sam stops currying favor and turns disciplinarian even while pulling Wendy into his hard-partying lifestyle. Within a few months, Brian's on the verge of expulsion for picking fights at school, and even honor-role student Jake is mouthing off to his teachers. As for Wendy, she's too busy taking beatings and doing cocaine to notice that her family has fallen apart. It isn't until Jake gets wise to the industrial quantities of white powder squirreled away under the floorboards that he comes up with a plan to get Sam out of their lives forever. Although onetime Tiger Beat heartthrob Christopher Collet plays Firstborn's title role, the films' supporting cast is littered with actors whose stars would far eclipse his (Sarah Jessica Parker, Robert Downey Jr.) -- though in some cases only for a little while (Corey Haim). ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Flixster Users

54% liked it

1,535 ratings

Critics

33% liked it

12 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 43 min.

Directed by: Michael Apted

Release Date: June 1, 1984

Invite friends to see

Stats: 60 reviews

report incorrect info

Photos

Firstborn Christopher Collet Christopher Collet Christopher Collet Christopher Collet Christopher Collet Christopher Collet Christopher Collet
Upload a Photo | View All Firstborn Photos

Your Rating


clear rating

Flixster Reviews (60)

  • moviefan1725
    April 4, 2012
    moviefan1725
    Peter Weller is best known for playing the hero in movies like Leviathan, and most notably, the title character in Robocop. But somehow he seems more in his element playing a bad guy. Never better than here. He plays the sleazy new boyfriend of suburban mom Teri Garr. Instantly h... read moree butts heads with her oldest son played by Christopher Collet. He tries to come across as a nice guy, but Collet sees beneath the fake smile, and knows that this guy is bad news. Soon, the new man in mom's life has her out partying late, doing coke, and even getting involved in dealing drugs. With no father around, Collet decides to stand up for his family, and do what it takes to get this guy out of their lives. It's a movie that will resonate with anyone that has divorced parents, and had to deal with new adult figures trying to assert an authority position in their lives. Sometimes it's a good thing, and sometimes it isn't. This is one of the worst case scenarios of what can happen to a good family when a bad element is introduced. Weller is at his best, but the rest of the performances are equally sound. Garr can do the soccer mom thing in her sleep. Like his turn in The Manhattan Project, Collet gives us a very believable (although very different) character that easily identifiable with. His problems and concerns are very realistic, and Collet sells it enough to get the audience cheering for him when he finally stands up to the bully. Watch for appearances by a very young Sarah Jessica Parker as Collet's girlfriend, and Robert Downey Jr as his friend who is the first kid the know to get an earring. Ah, the 80's. This is also the film debut of Corey Haim.
  • ileo
    April 4, 2012
    ileo
    An interesting movie! Still watch every now and then.
  • JaredsBaby
    April 4, 2012
    JaredsBaby
    Corey Haim was one of my heartthrobs back in the 80s. It's a shame what happened to him, but I will always love his old movies and anything he does in the future. This was one from his early days and he was definetly a star in the making. I wish him luck in getting back on his ... read morefeet. I watch him now a days on his tv show The Two Coreys and sometimes watching it is sad and I just keep saying to myself this is such a shame, but people pick there own paths and hopefully he will find his way back. Forever will love Corey Haim.
  • StaisilD
    April 4, 2012
    StaisilD
    Michael Apted directs a heavy-handed suburban sitcom about a harried divorced mom and her two children. Wendy Livingston (Teri Garr) is alone raising her 15-year-old high school son Jake (Christopher Collet) and his adolescent brother Brian (Corey Haim) after divorcing lawyer hub... read moreby Alan--someone she still loves. Hubby remarries and on the rebound Wendy meets security system salesman Sam, and has him move into her comfortable suburban home over the objections raised by her children. Sam turns out to be a small-time cocaine dealer with big plans to own a restaurant and get his own surveillance business. All he needs is capital. The children spot him immediately as a big-talking phony despite his trying to buy them off with gifts, and family life in the once happy household becomes a bummer. Sam is an abusive surrogate father and a nasty asshole, but Wendy digs him and ignores the pleas of her children to ditch this good for nothing. The performances are strong, the plot moves with a compelling simplicity, and the dialogue shows a good ear for the way the movie's different kinds of characters might really speak. The movie had been so good that somehow it didn't have the right to evade all the issues it had raised and just turn into a suburban thriller.
  • teeshafish
    August 20, 2008
    teeshafish
    I used to watch this movie all of the time. I loved Teri Garr in it and thought it was a good movie...i havent seen it in years!

View All Firstborn Reviews

Critic Reviews

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The movie creates such an urgent situation, and fills it with such interesting characters, that when everything goes wrong at the end I felt more than disappointed, I felt cheated. Full Review

Janet Maslin
May 20, 2003
Janet Maslin, New York Times

The best things about Firstborn are the easy, natural performances of the actors. Full Review

Dave Kehr
January 1, 2000
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

It might have worked if Apted were as adept at creating an emotional atmosphere as he is in his portraiture of the suburban milieu, but too many unshaped scenes and redundant dialogue passages take th... Full Review

January 8, 2008
TV Guide's Movie Guide

This flawed but interesting Freudian melodrama spends about 70 minutes making points and the last 30 minutes losing them. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
November 24, 2004
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

A heavy-handed suburban sitcom. Full Review

Chuck O'Leary
October 11, 2005
Chuck O'Leary, Fantastica Daily

No review available.

Emanuel Levy
July 4, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Jake Euker
November 4, 2004
Jake Euker, F5 (Wichita, KS)

No review available.

Jeffrey Westhoff
February 24, 2004
Jeffrey Westhoff, Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

No review available.

Mike McGranaghan
January 21, 2004
Mike McGranaghan, Aisle Seat

No review available.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Cast

More Like This

This list looks lonely.
Add a suggestion!

Facts

Submit a Fact | View All
    • Sam: Your mother and I, we're gonna get that restaurant.
    • Sam: I swear I'll hurt you mother god dammit!
    • Sam: The pinball machine is mine Jake, but you can use it anytime you want.
Submit a Fact | View All

Firstborn : Watch Free on TV

Firstborn Trivia

  • Robert Downey jr. dated someone after meeting her on the sets of Firstborn?   Answer »
More Firstborn Trivia

Movie Quizzes

No quizzes for Firstborn. Want to create one?

Video Clips

Upload a Video |

All Firstborn Videos

Meet Other Fans

Add Firstborn to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

No skins yet. Interested in creating one?