Necessary Parties (1988 TV Movie) User Reviews

Arkin is terrific as a lawyer turned auto mechanic who represents a teen intervening in his parents' divorce case.

[Michael-110 · 7/10 · 5 May 2000]

Lots of films and television shows explore divorce (and its prequels and sequels) from the point of view of the adult participants but few explore it from the point of view of the kids. The normal speech that parents give to their kids is that children are better off when their quarreling parents split than when they caged together. Fourteen year old Chris Mills rejects that idea. He's firmly convinced that his parents are wrong to get divorced; with some work their marriage can be saved. And Chris and kid sister Jenny will have an intact family. But nobody's listening.

So Chris takes an unusual tack--he gets his own lawyer to fight the divorce. Enter Archie Corelli, played by Alan Arkin (who also wrote the script). Archie's a lawyer who abandoned the law because he decided that our justice system hides rather than finds the truth. He's much happier running his car repair business. However, he agrees to represent Chris for a $10 fee. Chris' grandpa (the familiar Donald Moffat) agrees to be Chris' guardian ad litem in the suit and Chris files a motion to intervene in his parents' divorce case, arguing that he is a third party beneficiary of their marriage contract. Needless to say, both parents and their lawyers are outraged about his meddler into their private affairs.

Strangely, this little made-for-TV drama turns out to be quite touching. The two child actors are quite strong and Arkin is terrific. And the subject is a very serious one--half of all marriages end in divorce and a high percentage of children suffer at least one highly disruptive divorce. More often than not, the kids wind up in a household headed by their mother and suffer a radically decreased standard of living. Their relationship with the non-custodial parent is badly disrupted, perhaps destroyed. All kinds of psychological, social, and financial pathologies are likely to result.

And one last word in favor of Archie Corelli--an idealistic lawyer fed up with law practice who takes a case essentially pro bono because he likes the client and because he thinks that the legal system just might deliver a little bit of justice for once. We don't see too many lawyers like Archie in the films and television shows of today (and maybe not in real life either). Arkin deserves a lot of credit for creating the role.

Not bad at all.

[CabbageCustard · 7/10 · 2 July 2019]

I came across this movie on YouTube, of all places, and watched it one quiet afternoon when I didn't have anything else to do. I must say my expectations were not very high. I was expecting a saccharine, emotional weepie with little in the way of artistic merit. I was pleasantly surprised to be proved wrong. This is actually an intelligently written, well acted and entertaining story. The ending may be a little bit predictable and possibly improbable but the movie itself does a good job of reminding us that there are more than two parties in most divorces and more than just the couple who are splitting up get hurt. The acting is good. Alan Arkin is always a pleasure to watch as is Julie Hegarty (she always comes across as being so nice that it's a mystery why anyone would want to divorce her!) Young Mark-Paul Gosselaar acquits himself very well and I'm sorry he wasn't in more serious movies when he was around this age, instead of those vacuous teen TV shows. There are a few plot elements that don't work, but they're easily overlooked. The soundtrack, such as it is, is awful. Overall though, this is an entertaining and enjoyable movie. It's definitely streets ahead of most made-for-TV offerings.

Finally. A modern family drama that is truthful, unsappy and filled with characters to root for rather than roll your eyes at.

[mark.waltz · 8/10 · 17 February 2023]

The very charismatic Mark-Paul Gosselaar goes up against a veteran cast of actors and comes out triumphant as the teenage son of Geoffrey Pierson and and Julie Hagerty, dealing with the sudden announcement that his parents are getting a divorce. Along with his younger sister (who fortunately doesn't become cloying or annoying while trying to be overly cute and sentimental), he objects to the decision and decides to take his parents to court to see that they reconcile. Of course, he needs an attorney, and finds that with the father of a friend, none other than the fabulous Alan Arkin, once again playing a quirky character who is smarter than he seems and absolutely convincing even if the situation seems farfetched.

Best known as the sweet flight attendant from the comedy classic "Airplane!", Hagerty is more than just the stereotypical perfect mom, and it's wonderful how she treats her children as very important in the divorce action, not going out of her way to attack her husband, but leaning on them for support and showing her love. Pierson is great too, and thanks to the script, these characters are not at all stereotypical but truly fleshed out and believable. Donald Moffat is absolutely perfect as the supportive grandfather. Thanks to a top-notch grip and smooth direction, this is a family drama that is instantly easy to get into, and I didn't feel at all like tuning out at any time like I do with most films of this nature. Gosselaar and Arkin play off each other terrifically, and they add necessary lightness to the dramatic situation, which gives very subtle comedy that makes this both moving and amusing, and also hope that future writers about family situations like this can learn how to create family films that lack all those hideous cliches that have taken over in movies and television today.

Another take on Irreconcilable Differences?

[Havan_IronOak · 7/10 · 17 March 2002]

This film deals with important issues but suffers from the made-for-tv vernacular in which it is filmed and could use some serious rewriting.

A divorce told from a child's point of view is going to be painful to watch, but this film is overly so. The parents seem to be totally unsuited to each other and I had the strong feeling that separating them would have been in the best interest of all involved.

The way that these self-involved parents completely ignore their children was distressing to see but this was exacerbated in my view by the way that the kid's attorney/mechanic was always doing several things at once and only giving the kid a small part of his attention. It seemed to me that both of the children could have benefited from as much attention as they could get and it seemed hurtful that the kid's advocate ignored him as much as he did.

Overall the movie was only average and while touching on uncommon thematic ground, it really brought very few new perspectives to light.

Dealing with divorce any which way you can. (minor spoilers)

[vertigo_14 · 11 July 2004]

"Necessary Parties" is another of PBS Wonderworks series, which turned out to be quite a good series of short made-for-tv movies for pre-teen kids. This one address the situation of kids and the dilemma of divorce. It brings up an interesting point: what recourse does a kid have to maintain some footing and try to keep divorce from happening--since it doesn't just affect the parents.

'House Arrest' is the only other movie that I can think of that looks at this point, but rather unrealistically so because there, the kids, who could found no other way of changing their parent's minds, tried a new, drastic mode of therapy: lock your parents in the basement for a couple of days and force them to confront their problems.

In this story, a young boy approaches the situation in a much more reasonable way--by taking it to the courts. Chris Mills (played well by a very young Mark-Paul Gosselaar) is angry that his parents (Julie Hagerty and Geoffrey Peirson) have decided to get a divorce. He thinks that they haven't exhausted all means of trying to resolve their problems, and should try to because of the repercussions it has on their children, especially his young sister, Jenny (Taylor Fry).

With his parent's refusing to discuss the matter any further, and influenced by a Social Studies lesson on the Bill of Rights, Chris decides to hire a lawyer to defend his rights. That's how he meets Arhcie Correli (played by the wonderful Alan Arkin), an auto mechanic who went to law school, and reluctantly agrees to take Chris's case (reluctant because he normally doesn't try cases anymore) for the fee of ten dollars. He gives in because he sees Chris's conviction for trying to protect his family and especially, his little sister, who he claims will be hurt most by the divorce should it actually happen.

This is an interesting movie, too, in that it gives kids a sort of introduction into law and how to develop a claim by finding out 1) what the problem is; 2) whether that problem is a violation of an applicable law; 3) whether there are other cases similar to the situation in question; and 4) whether you have to persuasively and creatively set a precedent.

Chris is doing something quite unusual in the State of New York, so he and Archie have to come up with good reasons about how his and his sister's rights are violated by allowing his parent's divorce without their objection. It is a tough question, but an interesting one, nonetheless. He just wants his parents to really consider the how their kids will be affected by their decision. Because, when his parents announced their plans for divorce, their explanation just centered on how they felt about each other, and not addressing what it could mean for Chris and Jenny.

Both Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Alan Arkin do a terrific job. Gosselaar seemed more natural as a younger actor, than he did as an older teen on Saved By the Bell. Alan Arkin is hilarious and likewise natural as the eccentric Archie Correli, who makes quite an interesting and atypical lawyer figure. Probably figuring he had nothing to lose, and seeing how determined Chris was (who said he'd try getting someone else if Archie declined to take his case). He recognizes Chris's idealism and probably the importance of the situation, especially to one kid who would suffer the repercussions.

In fact, this movie is a good one for both children and their parents to watch. Chris wasn't entirely saying that his parents weren't getting divorce, but he was just trying to have his point of view expressed (and his parent's just gave him the deaf ear). He just wanted them to at least try to work out their problems and reach some resolution for the sake of the kids. What an interesting idea that is presented here, too, considering that the law often ignores the child's (those younger than 16 and 18, anyway) need to express his or her point of view.

And, if you like this movie in the Wonderworks series, I would recommend also trying out "How to Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days" which stars a very young Ilan-Mitchell Smith and a very funny Wallace Shawn in a story about building self-esteem. That one though, is more for the kids, than the parents.