Teri Garr, Peter Weller, Christopher Collet, Corey Haim, Sarah Jessica Parker and Robert Downey Jr. star in this 1984 drama. Garr (Mr. Mom) plays Wendy, a divorcée who has 2 children, Jake (Collet) and Brian (Haim). Weller (Robocop) plays Sam, the new man in her life who seems like a decent guy until Jake learns he's an abusive, drug-dealer. Jake intends to look out for his family and stand up to him. Parker (Sex and the City) plays Jake's girlfriend, Lisa and Downey Jr. (Iron Man) plays his friend, Lee. I remember this used to be on TV a lot years ago. It's pretty good, Weller is great in it and the rest of the cast isn't bad. I recommend this.

This is not, nor was it intended to be, a happy movie.Wendy, (a great performance by Teri Garr), is a very lonely and extremely vulnerable divorced Mother of two boys. She is wooed and won by Sam, (Peter Weller), a great guy and perfect husband/father replacement. Wendy's oldest son, Jake, discovers a secret which Wendy chooses to downplay rather than jeopardize her relationship with Sam.What should Jake do?Not all life situations are happy situations. The script is a strong and realistic rendering of a very believable situation. For a happy movie, I recommend "Mary Poppins".

First Born is good psychological exploration in the various signs of breakdown of kids dealing with tough family situations. Here, Christopher Collet (Prayer of the Rollerboys) is Jake Livingston, a fifteen year old kid who lives with his mom (Terri Garr) and younger brother, Brian (Corey Haim). And, things are fine for a while for Jake, despite his dad going to Montreal to marry his girlfriend, leaving Jake a tad sympathetic of his still single mother. But things quickly fall apart when his mom's new boyfriend, Sam (Peter Weller), enters the picture, and eventually moves in. While his mom has dated in the past, there is something about Sam that neither Jake nor Brian can tolerate. They can't figure out what their mother sees in this guy. Sam is kind of a flake. He never gives too much information about his past. The longer that Sam stays, the worse things become. He starts getting violent towards the boy, he starts bringing drugs into the house, and Jake's mother eventually starts falling into the same dangerous patterns as Sam while neglecting her own boys who plead with her to realize what Sam is really all about. For the first born, Jake, this is not something he can ignore, and has the responsibility of finding a way to protect himself, his brother, and most of all, his mother. This movie presents the kind of psychological breakdown kids may go through when faced with serious family issues. Before Sam arrived, Jake was a funny, easy going kid. He was a good student and spent a lot of time with his friends (one of whom was played by Robert Downey, Jr.) and girlfriend (Sarah Jessica Parker). Afterwards, both his and Brian's attitudes change for the worse. Jake becomes considerably thinner, irritable, and starts slacking academically. Likewise, Brian starts getting into a lot of fights in the schoolyard, beating up the kids he know he can win fights against. Plus, he hates coming home, and when he does, he spend much of the time locked in his room. It is a good film, too, to teach of the warning signs to parents, teachers, counselors, and so forth (Jake's dad couldn't be suspicious of anything was going on because he wasn't there to witness the changes in his sons). I wish Christopher Collet had been in more movies. He appears again with Haim about six years later or so in the sci-fi movie, Prayer of the Rollerboys.

Movie has a lot of current stars that were young at the time the movie was filmed. The movie has a lot of effective elements to get point across. Terri Garr plays a divorced wife who has to deal with new lover played by Peter Weller. Movie deals with drug content the troubles with growing up in a broken family. A Very sad movie, but very well made!