A Change Of Heart [Promises & Lies]

In 1998, when this film was released on TV, I am sure it must have made a good impact. In those days, being gay was not talked about openly (at least not that I know of). And to top that, it is not about a struggling teenager. Instead the drama is heightened by the fact that the lead character is a happily married man. The film is apparently based on a true story.

Elaine has been happily married for 20 years to Jim. A successful doctor, she has two beautiful teenagers, a stable career and two houses: one in the city and one in the country. However, her life is shattered in an instant when she discovers that Jim is having an affair with a man. She reacts very strongly to the whole truth and so does her colleagues. It is not only their personal lives that gets affected but it is also the professional life of both the characters. With this realization, both the teenage son and daughter are no struggling to accept the truth. The mother initially heart-broken tries her best to keep the family together albeit minus the father. There is an episode where a teenage gay bashing happens and it turns out that it is the teenage son who did it because he could not accept his father's homosexuality. Finally he pleads guilty in the court because now the anger in the system is out, and it is a hint that every member in the family is going to try their best to make things better.

The movie pictures in a very believable way the reaction a wife can have when discovering after twenty years of marriage that her husband is gay: the reaction of her colleagues was also portrayed in quite a realistic way. There's hurt, and anger, and tears, but it doesn't sink into sap. Elaine acted really well and was super convincing in the part of cheated on wife and struggling mother trying to balance things out. Her speech to the board of directors where she and her husband work was brilliant. There were some regular cliches in the movie but it is all relative. In today's time when you see the film, you might just roll your eyes but for that time, maybe it was the best that the film makers could do keeping the censors in mind.

It is a decent film depicting the struggles of a wife and mother dealing with homosexuality and makes for a decent watch because of the lead actress' acting. (5.5/10)