A Modern Affair

Last updated
A Modern Affair
Directed by Vern Oakley
Written byPaul Zimmerman
Story byVern Oakley
Paul Zimmerman
Produced byVern Oakley
Melanie Webber
Jennifer Wilkinson
Starring
CinematographyRex Nicholson
Edited bySuzanne Pillsbury
Music by Jan Hammer
Release date
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

A Modern Affair is a 1996 independent feature film directed by Vern Oakley and produced by Tribe Pictures.

Contents

Starring Stanley Tucci and Lisa Eichhorn, the film's plot reverses the conventions of romantic comedies. Instead of a man meeting a woman, falling in love, marrying, and having a baby, the woman gets pregnant, meets the child's father, and falls in love.

Winner of the Long Island Festival Audience Award, A Modern Affair played theatrically, was broadcast by HBO and distributed by Columbia TriStar Home Video.

Plot

Grace Rhodes (Lisa Eichhorn) is a lonely, successful executive whose biological clock is loudly ticking. Giving up on finding the right man, she resorts to using a sperm bank on the advice of her best friend Elaine (Caroline Aaron). Soon she is pregnant, but she becomes so curious as to the identity of the father that she goes on a quest to find him with the help of Elaine. Peter Kessler (Stanley Tucci) is a nature photographer living in Upstate New York. While his lifestyle differs from hers, he is also reluctant to commit to a relationship, indulging in a casual affair with a married woman (Mary Jo Salerno). His photographs only feature landscapes because, as far as he is concerned, "people mess up composition."

His world is rocked when Grace comes into the picture. And announces she's pregnant. "You got yourself into this situation," he tells her. "You're going to have to get yourself out. I'm not going to take responsibility for your baby." While at first, he runs away from any intimacy, he renews contact with Grace later. From then on begins their discovery of mutual commitment and their journey to parenthood.

Themes

A Modern Affair purports to investigate the meaning of bringing a child to the world rather than tackling the artificial insemination and sperm bank, which serve as a ploy to explore intimacy and commitment. Coincidentally, since the film was made, the identity of sperm donors has been offered more readily to children conceived by anonymous donors.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artificial insemination</span> Pregnancy through in vivo fertilization

Artificial insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatment for humans, and is a common practice in animal breeding, including dairy cattle and pigs.

Insemination is the introduction of sperm into a female or hermaphrodite's reproductive system in order to fertilize the female for sexual reproduction. The sperm is introduced into the uterus of a mammal or the oviduct of an oviparous (egg-laying) animal. Female mammals are inseminated during sexual intercourse/copulation, but can also be inseminated by artificial insemination.

<i>If These Walls Could Talk 2</i> 2000 American TV series or program

If These Walls Could Talk 2 is a 2000 television film in the United States, broadcast on HBO. It is a sequel to the 1996 HBO film If These Walls Could Talk, and like the earlier film is a female-centered anthology film, with three separate segments all set in the same house within three different decades in the 20th century. Unlike the earlier film, in which all the stories related to abortion, in this film all the storylines deal with lesbian couples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sperm bank</span> Facility that allocates human semen

A sperm bank, semen bank, or cryobank is a facility or enterprise which purchases, stores and sells human semen. The semen is produced and sold by men who are known as sperm donors. The sperm is purchased by or for other persons for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy or pregnancies other than by a sexual partner. Sperm sold by a sperm donor is known as donor sperm.

<i>Romance & Cigarettes</i> 2005 American film

Romance & Cigarettes is a 2005 American musical romantic comedy film written and directed by John Turturro. The film stars an ensemble cast which includes James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Steve Buscemi, Bobby Cannavale, Mandy Moore, Mary-Louise Parker, Aida Turturro, Christopher Walken, Barbara Sukowa, Elaine Stritch, Eddie Izzard, and Amy Sedaris. The film was nominated for a Golden Lion at the 2005 Venice Film Festival.

The main family law of Japan is Part IV of Civil Code. The Family Register Act contains provisions relating to the family register and notifications to the public office.

<i>Passionate People</i> 2002 Argentine romantic comedy film by Juan José Jusid

Passionate People is a 2002 Argentine romantic comedy film directed by Juan José Jusid, starring Pablo Echarri, Nancy Dupláa and Natalia Verbeke.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Eichhorn</span> American actress, writer, producer (b. 1952)

Lisa Eichhorn is an American actress, writer and producer. She made her film debut in 1979 in the John Schlesinger film Yanks, for which she received two Golden Globe nominations. Her international career has included film, theatre and television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Drake</span> Male characters in television

Patrick Drake is a fictional character on the ABC soap opera General Hospital, a protagonist in both seasons of its prime time SOAPnet spin-off General Hospital: Night Shift and one half of on-screen couple Patrick Drake and Robin Scorpio. Jason Thompson originated the role in 2005. From April 23 to 28, 2008, the role of Patrick Drake was played by Ethan Erickson while Thompson was having minor surgery. In October 2015, it was announced that Thompson will be departing from the show, last appearing on January 7, 2016.

<i>Never Forever</i> 2007 film by Gina Kim

Never Forever is a 2007 romantic drama film written and directed by Gina Kim, and starring Vera Farmiga. The film was critically acclaimed when it was first screened at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, and won the Jury Prize at the Deauville American Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Drake and Robin Scorpio</span> Soap opera character

Dr. Patrick Drake and Dr. Robin Scorpio-Drake are fictional characters and a supercouple from the ABC daytime drama General Hospital and its SOAPnet spin-off General Hospital:Night Shift. The couple is commonly referred to by the nickname "Scrubs", rather than by a portmanteau like other supercouples. Robin, the daughter of popular characters Robert Scorpio and Anna Devane, is portrayed by Kimberly McCullough, the original actress cast in the role who has portrayed the character sporadically since she was seven in 1985. Jason Thompson was cast as legendary 1980s character Dr. Noah Drake's son Patrick in December 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reese Williams and Bianca Montgomery</span> Soap opera character

Reese Williams and Bianca Montgomery are fictional characters and a lesbian couple from the ABC daytime drama All My Children. Reese was portrayed by Tamara Braun, and Bianca was portrayed by Eden Riegel. On Internet message boards, the pairing is commonly referred to by the portmanteaus "Rianca" and "Breese". The couple debuted in October 2008 and is groundbreaking for featuring the first same-sex marriage proposal, as well as the first legal same-sex wedding and marriage, on an American soap opera. In addition, the pairing's family is the first onscreen family made up of same-sex parents in the history of American daytime television.

Sperm donation is the provision by a man of his sperm with the intention that it be used in the artificial insemination or other "fertility treatment" of one or more women who are not his sexual partners in order that they may become pregnant by him. Where pregnancies go to full term, the sperm donor will be the biological father of every baby born from his donations. The man is known as a sperm donor and the sperm he provides is known as "donor sperm" because the intention is that the man will give up all legal rights to any child produced from his sperm, and will not be the legal father. Sperm donation may also be to known as "semen donation".

Religious response to assisted reproductive technology deals with the new challenges for traditional social and religious communities raised by modern assisted reproductive technology. Because many religious communities have strong opinions and religious legislation regarding marriage, sex and reproduction, modern fertility technology has forced religions to respond.

<i>The Babymaker: The Dr. Cecil Jacobson Story</i> 1994 television film

The Babymaker: The Dr. Cecil Jacobson Story is a 1994 American made-for-television drama film directed by Arlene Sanford. The film is based on the true story of Cecil Jacobson, who used his own sperm to impregnate patients, without informing them. The film was criticized for not giving a clear portrayal of Jacobson, but George Dzundza was praised for his performance.

<i>The Kids Are All Right</i> (film) 2010 film by Lisa Cholodenko

The Kids Are All Right is a 2010 American comedy-drama film directed by Lisa Cholodenko and written by Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg. It is among the first mainstream movies to show a same-sex couple raising two teenagers. A hit at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, it opened in limited release on July 9, 2010, expanded to more theaters on July 30, 2010, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 16, 2010. The film was awarded the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Annette Bening was awarded the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. The film also received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, at the 83rd Academy Awards.

<i>Starbuck</i> (film) 2011 film directed by Ken Scott

Starbuck is a 2011 Canadian comedy film directed by Ken Scott and written by Scott and Martin Petit. It stars Patrick Huard as the main character, Antoine Bertrand as his friend/lawyer, and Julie Le Breton as his girlfriend.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forced fatherhood</span> Causing a pregnancy using semen obtained by force or deception

Forced fatherhood or imposed paternity, occurs when a man becomes a father against his will or without his consent. It can include deception by a partner about her ability to get pregnant or use of contraceptives, birth control sabotage, paternity fraud and sexual assaults of males that result in pregnancy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ari Nagel</span> American mathematician and sperm donor

Ari Nagel is an American mathematics professor and a sperm donor who has fathered more than 165 children as of June 2024. He has been nicknamed the Sperminator or the Target Donor, after the American retail corporation in whose stores some of his artificial-insemination donations were performed.

References