My First Love (1988)

The greatest movie ever made..!

A different way of telling a story

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The movie is wildly uneven but lively and timely - in its own surreal way

First, I read a review saying that Joan van Ark's acting was bad in this and I strongly disagree! She was fantastic with a wonderful comic touch playing the spoiled, immature Claire. She has a fantastic talent for comedy and used it to the fullest in this film. The movie is about Bea Arthur and Richard Kiley's characters who meet up again after being a couple when they were young. Richard's character Sam is dating a younger, sexy, immature women, Claire (Joan van ark). The movie is funny and sweet and everyone should see it simply just to see Joan van Ark in a sexy leopard bikini and other sexy skimpy clothing. The bedroom scene between her and Sam is also a highlight when she starts undressing. Her body is just perfection and she oozes sex appeal. Fabulous movie from start to finish! Great ending too and fantastic acting by Bea, Richard and Joan!!

I know I saw this ABC TV movie when it originally aired in 1988 , but like with most movies of the week back in the 80's and 90's , you probably saw it once and forgot it- I don't think it was ever re-aired. I rediscovered it recently on YouTube and really enjoyed it. Richard Kiley and Bea Arthur star in this movie about two people who were lovers as young adults ,split up and then after not seeing each other for 35 years ,they meet again . Bea plays Jean a recently widowed NYC woman who is having trouble coping with being alone. Her gal pals talk about their 40th high school reunion coming up ,her old flames name comes up , she winces ,she obviously still hurts over him 35 yrs later. She goes to the reunion no doubt hoping he'll show but is disappointed when he does not. Her gal pal convinces her to write to him , and surprise he sends her plane tickets to visit him in the hamptons. After talking it over with her friend ,she decides to go much to her daughters dismay. This is where the movie takes off , starting with Richard Kiley . He has never looked more handsome , the man is charming , funny and I fell in love with him in this movie. They end up spending a wonderful few days together and then he tells her he has been seeing a younger woman for some time ,they split but she called him the other night and he still loves her and wants to get back with her again. To add to Jeans heartache , he says that he should have married her in the first place.However,When he gets back with Claire the younger woman - he still thinks about Jean and pursues her back to New York - the movie gets even better at this point with Kiley and Arthur playing off each other like pro's. It all boils down to can Jean and Sam make it work or will he stay with Claire or will they both just go off alone. There are some really funny moments between the two ,and of course some painful heartache moments too. I could have given this movie a 10 if it was based solely on the wonderful acting of the two veterans Kiley and Arthur. however overall it's not without it's drawbacks so I give it an 8. The story is a bit uneven and certain scenes are terribly underwritten and had me wondering did they really mean to have that scene end that way or did they rewrite it? 3 scenes really come to mind , a scene between Jean and her daughter after the daughter catches her making out with Sam, the scene ends so abruptly with her daughter making a very sarcastic remark while Jean does nothing when she should have slapped her daughter ,the scene at Claire's birthday party which takes place in the bathroom - it is all Claire and she really tears into Jean from telling her what could she possibly offer him to her being useless Jean says nothing to this and then she runs out to confront Sam without telling him what Claire said - putting him on the spot and then dumping him. I mean Claire was a control freak and selfish. She was constantly trying to control him and make him do what she wanted. Even the one lady friend at the party -told her that it was going nowhere. So how could Jean compare herself to Claire and think Sam would just dump her when she herself had issues as well. Terribly written IMO. And then of course the ending - which is way too short - it is more like a sitcom tag scene. With Sam chasing Jean back to NYC and begging her to marry him. Would have been better had there been some more fleshing out of their characters.As with most TV movies -they are low budget ,quickly written and probably edited severely for pacing . Which leaves you thinking how much better it could have been if maybe it had backing to go to the big screen as maybe a limited release or indie movie. It also suffers from some bad acting by Joan Van Ark as Claire Sams' younger woman lover and also from the irritatingly bad acting of Kate Charleson - her character of Jean's daughter Barbara could easily have been cut out. Overall though definitely worth watching for the top notch acting of the late Mr Kiley and MS Arthur.

A feelgood Valentine for the over-40 (50?) set, this romantic tale offers nothing that hasn't been done before, but is offered here with such a deft touch and with such command of nuance that it will win your heart - provided that you are in the proper age bracket. The emotions ring true, even if some of the plot is a bit contrived. Bea Arthur masterfully conveys the needs, fears, uncertainties and tentativeness of a widow just marking time until she decides that the best part of her life does not necessarily belong to the past. The overt sentimentality that might spoil such a story is carefully avoided here. A strong supporting cast contributes notably.

Well worth a look for Bea Arthur fans, it's unlikely to win her any new ones. However I found Miss Arthur's overall performance to give the plot a depth that would have been lost otherwise. Filmed specifically for TV, it does come across as hurried and poorly developed and this is where it spoils. Also Joan Van Ark's "Claire" is little more than irritating.Nicely dealing with a late-in-life love affair, the two main characters (Jean and Sam) rekindle their feelings with one another yet they both have obstacle's of their own to deal with first. Jean must put to rest her widowhood and Sam must set himself free from his fear of ageing and/or death. There are some comical moments that keep this alive and some of the supporting actors offer some interesting banter.However it's saving grace is a rare appearance on film of Miss Bea Arthur, something to keep and cherish, offering us a subtle and restrained performance that gives this the depth that it needs. Miss Arthur is always going to be an American "First Love" and I recommend that this will keep you entertained.