The first time i saw this i was very moved. Yes indeed people were dropping like fly's back then. but it seems today people don't care about such things and bare backing is the way to go. such fools people can be when they think the storm has passed. way too many have died from AIDS and way too many will still. For a TV movie this was way ahead of its time. the cast was very good and all did a fine job. Aidan Quinn was just perfect for the part. he and I are the same age so it was very easy to connect with this great actor. most Actors back then did not want to play such parts. Today things are so different and its very the norm for actors to play gay roles.

first the acting....Aidan Quinn was apre heath ledger winner...both tackled the gay roles with finesse and ability. Gena rowlands her eyes gave some of the best emotions of the film. and the gay dude in the hospital so real even my straight brother felt for him. what a great movie full of love and pain. while it teaches us to be safe with our sex lives...it makes us realize how much life is fragile. i saw it 10 years in intervals and i remembered how the music score had touched me and how much...for its time this movie was important to all and ahead of its time. miss Sidney also was a cool grandma...and Ben gazzara....really got our hearts pounding. never to be forgotten.

I don't know why I do this to myself. I've been HIV+ since 1994, and every once in awhile, I feel the need to torture myself and watch something like this. I remember clearly when it was first on. It didn't mean much to me then, but I just watched it tonight on LOGO, and I cried my eyes out. The information on AIDS is soooo dated, but the emotions are so real. Aiden Quinn was terrific, as were Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara. John Glover seems to have made a mini-career out of playing the role he plays here, as he played it again in "Love, Valour, Compassion" (also excellent). Whatever happened to D.W. Moffat? I think, if I recall correctly, that this was the first movie or TV show to really deal with AIDS. The disease had only been named in 1981, so it was only 4 years later. It still holds up.

A young gay man (Adian Quinn) becomes stricken with AIDS. He now has to come out to his parents (Gena Rowlands, Ben Gazzara) AND tell them he has an incurable disease.For its time this was extraordinary. Back in 1985 AIDS was still considered a gay mans disease and most TV shows wouldn't touch the subject. NBC should be congratulated on having the courage to greenlight this and present it (also it got HUGE ratings when it first played). The acting is exceptional--Quinn is just perfect and Rowlands is incredible as his mother. Gazzara is also good but not as good as the other two--he seems to be holding back. And it was a surprise to see John Glover playing a man dying on AIDS--he usually played villains. Also the ending didn't offer any false hope--there was no miracle cure to save this man. For a TV movie that was incredible.The film isn't perfect. Some of the dialogue is bad (especially between Quinn and Gazzara) and Quinn's boyfriend leaves him at the beginning--only to show up again at the end. Sorry but that wouldn't have happened back then. Also today AIDS is not a death sentence. People are living and there are some treatment that are working. Still this is an exceptional movie and a definite milestone in TV history. Recommended.