My Beautiful Son

The cable version of this dramedy ( drama/comedy) is "Strange Relations" but they could have called it "Strange Bedfellows."

It's such a quirky, unique piece of work. It defies much description, and the plot summaries above tell the tale.

The acting is surprising good.

For once, Paul Reiser is not exactly playing Paul Reiser.

Julie Walters is phenomenal, as always.

Ann Robbins (a cousin of Paul McCartney, and sister to Brit actress Kate Robbins) is excellent, and some might remember her from "Casualty".

The setting is primarily Liverpool, and it's both an unflinching and romantic view of the city, in my humble opinion.

All in all, this is worth 2 hours of your time, and if you spend 120 minutes with it on cable - it won't be time wasted.

This has everything. I mean EVERYTHING. A very good plot and storyline with a major, unforeseen twist, excellent acting, huge emotional attachment, a really fun and witty dialogue, educational, with excellent acting, good DP work with a backdrop of Liverpool and NYC, decent music and sound engineering. I LOVED this movie.

But for some reason, probably at the agreement of Granada (UK) and Showtime (US) it was never really pushed as a theatrical release (most likely poor marketing and publicity). The credits are done very cheaply and this suggests Showtime and Granada either a) ran out of money or b) didn't believe in it. Either way, a major shame.

This is a gem!

Just watch it and let yourself be emotionally moved in all directions.

This film was shown on TV here and repeated once - i am waiting very impatiently for it to be released on to DVD - despite my nation's beloved actress, Julie Walters winning a bafta for her performance, it's yet to be released - mainly because it sadly came and went without much fuss being made about it.

I have adored Julie Walters from the first time i saw 'education Rita' and feel her presence and northern nonsense persona was a wonderful dynamic next to Paul reiser and their on screen relationship was so moving.

I usually don't enjoy these 'pushing emotional buttons' dramas - to me the words cancer, bone marrow, long lost family, when put together with film spell disaster, but this was something different. British films being known for their 'realness', made this feel like a personal, private film, only you were being allowed to see the painful process this family goes through when Paul reiser comes searching for his birth mother as a last chance to get bone marrow.

I will say no more, other than watch it.... and please can it be released on DVD???

I have to admit, I wasn't sure about this film after reading the description of it. It had the potential to be really sappy. But I was totally blown away by it. It delivered on everything--the writing, the story, and the acting. It was ultimately an emotionally draining experience.

The story revolves around Jerry Lipman (Paul Reiser), a Jewish New York psychologist. After being diagnosed with leukemia, his mother, played by Olympia Dukakis, tells him he was actually adopted. His real birth mother was/is a Catholic woman from Liverpool, England. When he discovers she's still alive and has two other sons who might be possible bone marrow donors, he pays them a visit. This is where the majority of the film takes place and what a wild ride it is!

His mother Sheila (Dame Julie Walters) is quite a character. She's a sweet, loving matriarch who is overjoyed to finally be reunited with her son. Dame Walters delivers an incredible performance. While trying to reconnect with his two brothers, he ends up falling in love with his brother's ex-wife. Maureen (Amy Robbins), which further complicates the story. Without giving away any more of this excellent movie, let's just say you'll need to have some tissues handy. It's a fun, complicated, and yes, gut-wrenching journey. Just a solid hour and a half of solid movie viewing.

Always a pleasure to enjoy the talent of Julie Walters, here she is supported by an exceptionally gifted cast. Starting and ending in the luxury of New York, the main story in the film takes place in the slums of Liverpool with any number of quite believable scenes. The supporting cast may be drawn with a rather thick felt pen but add enormous colour to the general atmosphere. This is a film which will obviously mean more to, and be enjoyed more by English audiences. So much of the dialogue and so many remarks are probably incomprehensible to other nationalities and that includes Americans. This is a film to be enjoyed for all its good points and not to be criticized for all its weaknessess. The right type of viewer will find themselves wondering if they are crying from laughter or pure sentiment. A brilliant performance by Julie Walters