I remember watching "The Gathering" when it first aired on TV those many years ago. Ed Asner was at the peak of his career. He had two Golden Globes and four Emmy's of his five and seven totals, respectively. The movie aired as a Christmas film early in December 1977 – less than three years after the end of the Vietnam War. So, the part of the story about reconciliation of a father and son over the war had a strong emotional appeal to viewers then. Indeed, it probably still tugs at heartstrings today, albeit not so strongly or as much for the same reasons it did with viewers in the past.
I've had this film in my Christmas library for a few years, and each year that I've watched it, it doesn't seem quite as good as I had thought. Where I probably would have rated it eight stars those years long ago, today I give it just six stars. I still rate films across the range of stars, so it's not that I've gotten any harder with age. (If anything I'm softer – at least my kids and friends say so). No, my rating now is more with an eye to the story and the performers. And the sentimental tugging of this film aside, it doesn't stand up quite as high.
The story is a good one, but the acting is very weak – even bad in a couple instances, except for one. But for Maureen Stapleton's performance as Kate, I don't think "The Gathering" would even deserve the six stars I give it. Those are mostly for the good story and Stapleton's acting. The rest of the cast, with few exceptions, make this movie come across as melodrama of the daytime soap genre.
Asner's Adam is so nonchalant on learning that he will soon die, and then so matter-of-fact about getting the family all together one last time. In between those non-energetic sides, he seems almost wooden. Was his mind somewhere other than on this film and story? Bruce Davison is right out of a daytime soap in his first scenes. He's adamant about not going home and his dislike of his father. But when he gets there, he's suddenly a changed man. Veronica Hamel as Helen gives another soap opera performance.
I know this is a TV movie, but most of this cast have done much better acting before and since. With all these weak performances, I couldn't escape the thought that this was a typical daytime melodrama. The story had great potential. But the script had some holes. Do we ever learn why Adam and Kate separated for years over an argument? What was it that would lead to that? And the directing was weak – in allowing the glaring scenes of overacting. Many of the cast must have thought they were just in another episode of one of their TV series.
In my estimation, there's no way that this film could rank up there with the better Christmas films. That includes some fine holiday dramas – "The Homecoming" of 1971, "All Mine to Give" of 1957, "Remember the Night" of 1940, "The House Without a Christmas Tree" of 1972, "One Special Night" of 1999, or the two great Christmas classics, "Miracle on 34th Street" of 1947 and "It's a Wonderful Life" of 1946.
Now that I've reviewed this film after several viewings, I'm going to drop it from my Christmas movie library and give away my DVD to a charity.
I've had this film in my Christmas library for a few years, and each year that I've watched it, it doesn't seem quite as good as I had thought. Where I probably would have rated it eight stars those years long ago, today I give it just six stars. I still rate films across the range of stars, so it's not that I've gotten any harder with age. (If anything I'm softer – at least my kids and friends say so). No, my rating now is more with an eye to the story and the performers. And the sentimental tugging of this film aside, it doesn't stand up quite as high.
The story is a good one, but the acting is very weak – even bad in a couple instances, except for one. But for Maureen Stapleton's performance as Kate, I don't think "The Gathering" would even deserve the six stars I give it. Those are mostly for the good story and Stapleton's acting. The rest of the cast, with few exceptions, make this movie come across as melodrama of the daytime soap genre.
Asner's Adam is so nonchalant on learning that he will soon die, and then so matter-of-fact about getting the family all together one last time. In between those non-energetic sides, he seems almost wooden. Was his mind somewhere other than on this film and story? Bruce Davison is right out of a daytime soap in his first scenes. He's adamant about not going home and his dislike of his father. But when he gets there, he's suddenly a changed man. Veronica Hamel as Helen gives another soap opera performance.
I know this is a TV movie, but most of this cast have done much better acting before and since. With all these weak performances, I couldn't escape the thought that this was a typical daytime melodrama. The story had great potential. But the script had some holes. Do we ever learn why Adam and Kate separated for years over an argument? What was it that would lead to that? And the directing was weak – in allowing the glaring scenes of overacting. Many of the cast must have thought they were just in another episode of one of their TV series.
In my estimation, there's no way that this film could rank up there with the better Christmas films. That includes some fine holiday dramas – "The Homecoming" of 1971, "All Mine to Give" of 1957, "Remember the Night" of 1940, "The House Without a Christmas Tree" of 1972, "One Special Night" of 1999, or the two great Christmas classics, "Miracle on 34th Street" of 1947 and "It's a Wonderful Life" of 1946.
Now that I've reviewed this film after several viewings, I'm going to drop it from my Christmas movie library and give away my DVD to a charity.