''Shattered Spirits'' is a

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

American television drama film directed by

Robert Greenwald Robert Greenwald (born August 28, 1945) is an American filmmaker, and the founder of Brave New Films, a nonprofit film and advocacy organization whose work is distributed for free in concert with nonprofit partners and movements in order to educ ...

, starring Martin Sheen, Melinda Dillon,

Matthew Labyorteaux Matthew Charles Labyorteaux (born December 8, 1966) is an American film, television and voice actor. In many of his credits, his last name is spelled as "Laborteaux". He is also credited as Matthew Charles for his work in animation. He is best ...

, Lukas Haas, and Roxana Zal. Sheen plays an

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

father who loses his family.

Plot

Lyle Mollencamp is an alcoholic. His wife, Joyce, struggles to cover their family's distress. His three children react in different ways: Kenny has become rebellious; Lesley has totally immersed herself in school activities, and 8 year old Brian has been shielded from his father's problems. That's only until Lyle's drinking costs him his job and spoils Brian's birthday. For Kenny it's the last straw. The confrontation between father and son is so explosive that Lyle must deal with his problem. Lyle goes into rehab for 86 days and returns home for an outdoor picnic. He immediately orders changes and dominates the family. In a fit of rage, he storms off and buys a bottle of liquor. He returns home with the bottle unopened. Will he succeed or remain in a home of shattered spirits?

Cast

* Martin Sheen ... Lyle Mollencamp * Melinda Dillon ... Joyce Mollencamp *

... Kenny Mollencamp * Lukas Haas ... Brian Mollencamp * Roxana Zal ... Lesley Mollencamp * Jill Schoelen ... Allison *

Jenny Gago Jenny Gago (born September 11, 1953) is a Peruvian-American actress best known as Maria in ''Knots Landing'' (1984-1986), Maria in ''My Family'' (1995), Anaya in '' The Agency'' (2002-2003), and Det. Ochoa in '' Southland'' (2011). Life Gago ...

... Mavis

Reception

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' reviewer Lee Margulies says the film outlines the well known pernicious effects of alcoholism on the Mollencamp family. The film chronicles the grim, often painful detail of "the lives of alcoholic Lyle Mollencamp, his weak, apologetic wife and their three emotionally scarred children." The toll taken on the family from the father's lies, denial and guilt and the mother's enabling weakness leads to a broken home. He finds a uniformly excellent cast and especially likes Matthew Laborteaux "the 15-year-old boy who is most affected by, yet least forgiving, of his father's behavior." The movie ends on hope with the father a far way from recovery.

References

1986 films 1986 drama films 1986 television films ABC network original films Films about alcoholism Films directed by Robert Greenwald Films scored by Michael Hoenig 1980s English-language films {{1980s-drama-film-stub