Firstborn

Single mother Teri Garr has a literal hell of a time raising her sons Corey Haim and Christopher Collet. When her husband remarries, Teri decides to "get even" by entering into an affair with Peter Weller. She is blind to his many flaws, but her sons are more perceptive. Weller proves that the boys' instincts are on target when he reveals himself as a drifter, a parasite, and a druggie, but still Garr chooses to ignore these shortcomings. The boys rebel against this domestic set-up by running afoul of both drug dealers and the Law. The last portion of First Born is given over to a standard car chase, which throws off the careful, deliberate pacing of the rest of the film. A climax straight out of Dirty Harry and Death Wish segues into a comparatively happy ending, but it's too bad the film could not have upheld the artistic integrity of its expository sequences.