Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Wordiezett So much average

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Pepper Anne First Born is good psychological exploration in the various signs of breakdown of kids dealing with tough family situations. Here, Christopher Collet (Prayer of the Rollerboys) is Jake Livingston, a fifteen year old kid who lives with his mom (Terri Garr) and younger brother, Brian (Corey Haim). And, things are fine for a while for Jake, despite his dad going to Montreal to marry his girlfriend, leaving Jake a tad sympathetic of his still single mother. But things quickly fall apart when his mom's new boyfriend, Sam (Peter Weller), enters the picture, and eventually moves in. While his mom has dated in the past, there is something about Sam that neither Jake nor Brian can tolerate. They can't figure out what their mother sees in this guy. Sam is kind of a flake. He never gives too much information about his past. The longer that Sam stays, the worse things become. He starts getting violent towards the boy, he starts bringing drugs into the house, and Jake's mother eventually starts falling into the same dangerous patterns as Sam while neglecting her own boys who plead with her to realize what Sam is really all about. For the first born, Jake, this is not something he can ignore, and has the responsibility of finding a way to protect himself, his brother, and most of all, his mother. This movie presents the kind of psychological breakdown kids may go through when faced with serious family issues. Before Sam arrived, Jake was a funny, easy going kid. He was a good student and spent a lot of time with his friends (one of whom was played by Robert Downey, Jr.) and girlfriend (Sarah Jessica Parker). Afterwards, both his and Brian's attitudes change for the worse. Jake becomes considerably thinner, irritable, and starts slacking academically. Likewise, Brian starts getting into a lot of fights in the schoolyard, beating up the kids he know he can win fights against. Plus, he hates coming home, and when he does, he spend much of the time locked in his room. It is a good film, too, to teach of the warning signs to parents, teachers, counselors, and so forth (Jake's dad couldn't be suspicious of anything was going on because he wasn't there to witness the changes in his sons). I wish Christopher Collet had been in more movies. He appears again with Haim about six years later or so in the sci-fi movie, Prayer of the Rollerboys.

triple8 This is another movie about the ramifications of addictions and though it's not "Leaving Las Vegeas" the movie is still welldone and draws you in(it was a book to). It also offers a fresh perspective surprisingly rare for movies of this type-addiction as seen through the eyes-not of the lover or parent-but of the child. In THIS story it's the mother in the family who is problematic-especially when the mother's new boyfriend enters the picture and starts a destructive chain of events.As in most stories of this genre don't expect sweetness and light. It's a good story to see though and one many may relate too. The book is equally as welldone.

cbrown49 Well, I just want to say that I saw a movie on ShowTime tonight called "Domestic Disturbance" with John Travolta. I knew I had seen another movie like it before, and finally the movie First Born came to mind as way superior. I liked it when I saw it some time ago, and I like it now. As I recall the suspense was way higher, and the guy way seedier than "dad's replacement" in Domestic Disturbance. Not an intellectual movie by any means, this movie gets you involved and plays with you so obviously that even that is fun. I would recommend it. The casting is excellent and gets the blood stirring.

george.schmidt FIRSTBORN (1984) *** Teri Garr, Peter Weller, Christopher Collet, Corey Haim, Sarah Jessica Parker, Robert Downey, Jr. Absorbing story of a teenager facing his mother's sudden downward spiral thanks to a shifty loser (Weller in a nice turn). Good acting and an original sleeper.