A busy executive learns during a meeting that his mother may be dying and rushes home to her side. He ends up being his father's caretaker and becomes closer to him than ever before. Estranged from his own son, the executive comes to realize what has been missing in his own life.
Acting
Lemmon's Oscar-worthy breakdown scene is masterclass.
Writing
Goldberg's script finds poetry in ordinary pain.
Director
Gary David Goldberg
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Gary David Goldberg created Family Ties and based this on his own father's decline; the hospital scenes were shot at the actual facility where his dad was treated.
This was Lemmon's final leading dramatic role before his health declined, making his performance as a dying man accidentally prophetic and devastating in retrospect.
US
