Doing Time on Maple Drive

Doing Time on Maple Drive is a 1992 American made-for-television drama film written by James Duff and directed by Ken Olin. The movie stars James Sikking, Bibi Besch, William McNamara, Jayne Brook, David Byron, Lori Loughlin and Jim Carrey. It premiered on March 16, 1992 on Fox, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie. The tagline promoting the film was "They are living a lie called the Perfect American Family". It was shot entirely in Los Angeles.
Plot.
The movie centers on the Carter family. Phil (Sikking), the patriarch, is a successful local restaurateur, married for many years to Lisa (Besch). They have three grown children, Karen (Brook), Tim (Carrey) and Matt (McNamara). Karen is married to Tom (Byron), Tim works in his father's restaurant and Matt is a college student. Matt returns from college and introduces the family to his fiancée, Allison (Loughlin). Matt is injured after crashing his car; he returns home to recuperate. As he recovers, the family is revealed to be almost completely dysfunctional. Tim is an alcoholic. Matt's car crash was a suicide attempt brought on by the pressure of being gay and closeted from his conservative parents and lying about Allison's breaking their engagement because of it. Lisa is in deep denial about all of the problems family members are facing.
Karen's husband Tom learns that Karen is pregnant and that she is so terrified of bringing a child into a family situation like hers that she's considering having an abortion without telling him. Tom angrily confronts his father-in-law Phil, declaring that, while Phil may be destroying his own family, he won't allow Phil to destroy his. Tom implores Karen not to have the abortion and moves away with her for the baby's sake to get them away from Phil's problems. Matt confronts his parents, including telling his mother that he knows she already knows he is gay after having walked in on him and another boy. Lisa continues to struggle with denial, but Phil begins to take tentative steps toward understanding and building bridges with his family.
Production notes.
In an interview with "Gay Star News", writer James Duff said the network didn't want Jim Carrey cast because he wasn't the "right guy", because of being a comedian. But after seeing his audition, Duff stated "he was amazing...his claim to fame is his comedy genius. I’m not sure people know that he’s got these sort of dramatic chops. He did an amazing job." Duff says of William McNamara, "I wanted somebody who was both extraordinary and ordinary at the same time, who could play ordinary and extraordinary and look extraordinary and ordinary, and he was a very hot commodity at the time."
Duff, who is openly gay, said the movie was "a very personal story and I was trying very hard to make it a universal story, not just about the nature of coming out. It is about denial in our culture and how denial keeps us from dealing with human truths – with our humanity. Everyone on "Maple Drive" is dealing with denial in some way." He also noted that movies with gay characters at that time were, "few and far between on television and mostly had to do with tragedy that we skirted in "Maple Drive". We ended up someplace very good."
Critical reception.
"Entertainment Weekly" said the movie "does its best to draw you in with simple realism, which allows for complication, ambivalence, and other good things...but some of "Maple Drive" is a bit too psychologically pat, and its tender ending rings false." They graded the movie A-. The "Deseret News" review said "The acting is superb. Carrey and Laughlin are revelations, breaking out of the comedy molds they fill in weekly series...and much of the credit for the success of "Maple Drive" goes to director Ken Olin...who opts for several intriguing camera angles and unusual set-ups, which are used to good effect." 
The "Hartford Courant" said the film "ends on a less than tidy note with problems left unsolved and important relationships hanging in the balance -- just like real life. Or just like the beginning of a new series. Either way. It works." "Tampa Bay Times" praised the movie as being "visually exciting", the dialogue realistic and "the acting natural". Historian Stephen Tropiano wrote in his book that for the first 85 minutes of the movie Phil is an "oppressive monster, so it's difficult to accept his transformation into a somewhat rational, calming force in the last ten minutes." Additionally, he said that although the film ends "on a quiet, hopeful note, after 95 minutes of "sturm and drang", it's all tied up a little too neatly and far too quickly."
Home media.
"Doing Time on Maple Drive" was released on Region 1 DVD on September 7, 2004.