Le secret de Jane

This film is based on some stilted or manipulated situations, especially those involving the glib wisdom dispensed by Jane's teacher and friends. In fact, the teacher is merely a plot device, showing up as a "deus ex machina" at exactly the right moments to help Jane.

But the plight of coming out is well portrayed and genuine.

The feeling that "no where is safe" is the terror experienced by many homosexuals, especially teens. It is good that a TV-movie like this, as pat as it is, was broadcast on Lifetime, the cable network aimed at women. I believe women can overcome the fear of homosexuality better than men who have been indoctrinated into the macho myth that fosters homophobia.

Ellen Muth is a teen who comes out as a lesbian, and Stockard Channing and James Naughton are her parents in "The Truth About Jane," a Lifetime movie.

This was an excellent movie dealing with the shame and pain of being different, the realization of who you are, and the difficulty in telling your loved ones you're gay. Jane is terrified of losing her parents' love so she can't tell them the truth about her friendship with a lonely, unhappy girl, even after her parents are told they were spotted kissing. When she finally comes out, there is anger and denial at first.

The performances in this movie are excellent all around, as is Muth's voice-over of the girl telling her story. The emotions ring true. Unfortunately, it's all a little too pat and probably not the actual experience of many young people acknowledging their gayness. Jane's mom has a best friend (RuPaul) who is gay, and she also has a female teacher who admits that she is gay. So she has lots of support, and, since this is Lifetime, her parents come around.

Definitely worth seeing and discussing, and I'm sure the film would be helpful to anyone faced with this situation. But as we know from real life, acceptance often comes at a higher price.

Did these guys have microphones in the wall when I came out to my parents? This movie was so similar to my own coming out experience that it was downright creepy in places. Some of Stockard Channing's lines were almost exactly what my own mother said verbatim!

So, in my book, this movie gets a 15 out of 10 for realism because, hey, I lived it. What more can I say. It's like they made a movie of my coming out experience and Ellen Muth played me.

About the movie itself, the acting was great; the plot was well laid out and strong and the characters were wonderfully believable. This movie is a 100% must see for teenage lesbians and their parents.

I recently taped this movie off of Lifetime and as I was watching it, I was amazed at home closely Jane's home and personal experiences reminded me of my own coming out. As I was watching the video, the story was so powerful and personal that I had to turn it off at times to take a moment. The acting in the movie was great. Stockard Channing, as always, proved to be a stunning actress with a stellar performance. The young actress who played Jane, Ellen Muth, proved herself with a hard emotionally demanding dramatic performance. I hope to see more from her in the future. Kelly Rowan, who played the teacher was beautiful as always. Her performance was great, but I agree with with other users that her character was always appearing on the scene at "the right time" a little too much. Overall, I thought the movie was great. A must see for friends and family of all homosexuals. Everyone for that matter. A wonderful Coming Out movie!

I suspect that only homophobes will be the only ones not enjoying this movie, because they won't be viewing it with an open mind. I'm a single guy and decided to give this movie a chance.

I laughed out loud a few times and even almost cried once. One would think that this movie comes off like an after-school ABC special, but it doesn't patronize in any way. Instead, we learn the plight of a lonely young girl as she goes through the trials & tribulations of being a lesbian. I am amazed at how well the young actress who plays Jane does it so well at such a young age. The movie makes one realize that not all people are the same. Some people are different. But what happens when that different person is your daughter. This opened up my eyes.

Go rent this movie. You will not be disappointed.