Toughlove

Toughlove is a 1985 American TV movie starring Lee Remick and directed by Glenn Jordan.

Premise

A couple, Jan and Rob Charters, discover their son Gary is on drugs. A friend, Darleen, tells them about the Toughlove organization.

Cast

Production

Toughlove was an organization founded in 1981 by family therapists Phyllis and David York. When the film was made, it claimed it had 1,500 chapters in the United States and 500,000 members worldwide.[1]

Lee Remick was approached to do it by Glenn Jordan. "The piece interested me on its merits as a drama and I found the subject matter to have a great deal of power," she said. "It has an emotional impact. It's a subject I think will touch an awful lot of people, which is a sad commentary on our society and kids."[1]

The film was controversial because it was seen to embrace a movement that urged parents to get tough with abusive teenagers. The screenwriter, Karen Hall, based the script in part on incidents from real life Toughlove meetings.[2]

Reception

The New York Times critic said the film "is only sporadically as powerful as it obviously intended to be. One problem is that it has the look of the typical TV movie, a kind of sanitized version of reality. Problems are reviewed but not forcefully conveyed." He also felt it was compromised by the need to have a happy ending, adding "The time is long past due, it would seem, for someone to get tough with the networks about the abuse of tired formulas."[3]

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References
  1. TOUGHLOVE' DRAMA DEPICTS GROUP'S SELF-HELP CONCEPT: [SUN-SENTINEL Edition] Buck, Jerry. Sun Sentinel 10 Oct 1985: 8.E.
  2. A PLOT FOR TV: GETTING TOUGH WITH ADOLESCENTS: [REVIEW] STEPHEN FARBER, New York Times10 June 1985: C.18.
  3. SENTIMENTALITY WATERS DOWN A WELL-MEANT MESSAGE: [REVIEW] O'Connor, John J. New York Times 13 Oct 1985: A.23.
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