Doing Time on Maple Drive
| Doing Time on Maple Drive | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Written by | James Duff |
| Directed by | Ken Olin |
| Starring | James Sikking Bibi Besch William McNamara Jayne Brook David Byron Lori Loughlin Jim Carrey |
| Theme music composer | Laura Karpman |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producers | Wayne Hanks (producer) Paul Lussier (producer) Gina Scheerer (supervising producer) |
| Cinematography | Bing Sokolsky |
| Editor | Elba Sanchez-Short |
| Running time | 92 min. |
| Production company | FNM Films |
| Original release | |
| Network | Fox Broadcasting Company |
| Release | March 16, 1992 |
Doing Time on Maple Drive is a 1992 drama television film. Written by James Duff and directed by Ken Olin, the film stars James Sikking, Bibi Besch, William McNamara, Jayne Brook, David Byron, Lori Loughlin and Jim Carrey in an early rare dramatic role at the time. The tagline promoting the film was "They are living a lie called the Perfect American Family". It was shot entirely in Los Angeles, California
Synopsis
Doing Time on Maple Drive centers on the Carter family. Phil (Sikking), the patriarch, is a successful local restaurateur, married for many years to Lisa (Besch). They have three grown children, Karen (Brook), Tim (Carrey) and Matt (McNamara). Karen is married to Tom (Byron), Tim works in his father's restaurant and Matt is a college student. Matt returns from college and introduces the family to his fiancée, Allison (Loughlin).
Matt is injured after crashing his car; he returns home to recuperate. As he recovers, the family is revealed to be almost completely dysfunctional. Tim is an alcoholic. Matt's car crash was a suicide attempt brought on by the pressure of being gay and closeted from his conservative parents and lying about Allison's breaking their engagement because of it. Lisa is in deep denial about all of the problems family members are facing.
Karen's husband Tom learns that Karen is pregnant and that she is so terrified of bringing a child into a family situation like hers that she's considering having an abortion without telling him. Tom angrily confronts his father-in-law Phil, declaring that while Phil may be destroying his own family he won't allow Phil to destroy his. Tom implores Karen not to have the abortion and moves away with her for the baby's sake to get them away from Phil's problems. Matt confronts his parents, including telling his mother that he knows she already knows he is gay after having walked in on him and another boy. Lisa continues to struggle with denial, but Phil begins to take tentative steps toward understanding and building bridges with his family.
Cast
- James Sikking as Phil Carter
- Bibi Besch as Lisa Carter
- William McNamara as Matt Carter
- Jayne Brook as Karen Carter
- David Byron as Tom
- Lori Loughlin as Allison
- Jim Carrey as Tim Carter
- Philip Linton as Andy - this actor died one month before this film was released.
- Bennett Cale as Kyle
- Richard Israel as Student Actor
- Mark Chaet as Nick
- Janice Lynde as Judy
- George Roth as Dr. Norman
- Parker Whitman as Gene
- Danielle Michonne as Cindy
- Toni Sawyer as Millie
- Bodhi Elfman as Joe
- Mike Marikian as Kevin
- Courtenay McWhinney as Clara
Awards and nominations
Doing Time on Maple Drive was nominated for three Emmy Awards: Duff for outstanding writing for a miniseries or special; outstanding made for television movie; and Besch for outstanding supporting actress in a miniseries or special.
DVD release
Doing Time on Maple Drive was released on Region 1 DVD on September 7, 2004.