Passions (1984) Online

We have a totally amoral "businessman" who maintains a separate household with a young harlot and her illegitimate son, while continuing to live with his wife of a quarter century, and their daughter. This quasi oriental pasha is struck down in his arrogance by a cerebral hemourage. This leaves quite a mess around him. You might feel sorry for the legitimate daughter until you discover she plans to live in concubinage with a hippie degenerate boyfriend. Well, there is at least one character, with whom you might feel some empathy, played by Joanne Woodward. She plans to support the illegitimate child as if it were her own. Isn't there an old saying: "The sins we do by one and one, we...."?

It certainly isn't a pleasant story, but as a moral parable, it has considerable value. There is into the bargain a very competent cast giving believable performances.

This was shown on Lifetime Cable back in 1989. Just how available it may be now is doubtful, but worth looking for if only for another example of Joanne Woodward's great talent.

Richard Crenna is married to Joanne Woodward and has a grown daughter. Richard also has been seeing Lindsay Wagner on the side for eight years now and has a six year boy by her. Lindsay knows about Joanne, but not Joanne about Lindsay. Richard's cozy little world crumbles when he has a seizure when playing tennis. I can't praise this film enough. This was so well done, with respect to each character. It was very intelligently written and you felt deeply for both Joanne and Lindsay's positions. Thought was put behind each line spoken and was true to the person. No words were wasted. Scenes did not drag. Their thoughts and feelings were eloquently expressed here. Such sensitiveness and sincerity to a subject matter I have not seen in a TV movie in a long time. This was a lot more emotional than I thought it would be. This must be one of Lindsay Wagner's best TV movies that she ever made and is head over heels better than anything she made that was pure Krantz melodrama or one of her "victim" movies. By casting Crenna as the husband, you like him in the beginning but do feel he is the impetus of the pain that follows. The viewer finds out later that there have been others before Lindsay. But you do feel the love shared between him and Lindsay. If you're looking for a serious film about adultery with adults who are three-dimensional people and where you see this as real life and not some overwrought melodrama, then "Passions" is for you. There is pain. There is deception. People have loved and given themselves and gotten hurt in the process. This is life as real as it gets in television movies and delivers the best of Lindsay Wagner and Joanne Woodward.