Forceful Version of ‘Twilight of the Golds’

Adapting a stage play to the small-frame window of television is always a dicey matter. When the play is “The Twilight of the Golds,” a piece with a controversial theme and a history of uneven critical acceptance, the task is even more difficult.

“The Twilight of the Golds” is based upon Jonathan Tolins’ play of the same name--a work that was well-reviewed in Los Angeles and critically attacked in New York. It is the story of the personal and moral dilemmas faced by the Gold family when the discovery is made that their daughter Suzanne is pregnant with a male child who has a high-percentage genetic makeup for homosexuality.

The problem is further complicated by the fact that Suzanne’s brother, David, is gay.

What emerges is a complex, multilayered study of family emotions and prejudices. The Golds--Walter and Phyllis, portrayed by Garry Marshall and Faye Dunaway--are an upper-middle-class Jewish couple who have managed to deal with their son’s sexual orientation by essentially avoiding the issue.

Suzanne and her husband Rob (Jennifer Beals and Jon Tenney) find that the underpinnings to their superficially happy marriage are powerfully threatened by the genetic information, and by the need to make the ultimate decision of whether to have the child.

And David (Brendan Fraser), who in his own way has participated in the family’s circumvention of his lifestyle, is forced to confront the reality of his parents’ prejudices.

The script, by Tolins and Seth Bass, differs from the play in that it softens the edges of many of the characters--especially Suzanne--and introduces an upbeat ending. But the forcefulness of the story remains. As do the important issues it raises: the potential emotional and social impact of prenatal genetic information at a time when genetic science is moving forward by leaps and bounds; the extent to which sexual orientation represents not an individual choice but a force with the power to either tear families apart or bring them together.

“The Twilight of the Golds” deals with these issues, for the most part, with candor and understanding in a production that is persistently compelling. Its sole problem--and it is a disconcerting one--is the sudden, virtually unprepared manner in which the resolution takes place. The final scenes, in fact, bear all the marks of committee writing in what seems to be a clear effort to tie up all the strings and make almost everyone happy.

Fraser, in a strong performance as David, manages to bring dignity and strength to the part without sacrificing the character’s inherent vulnerabilities. Beals contributes a potential Emmy-nomination reading to a role filled with nonverbal subtleties, and Marshall’s inherent humor adds substance to the somewhat unfocused part of Walter.

But Dunaway’s well-meaning depiction of Phyllis stumbles in its effort to underscore the character with too much chatter and ethnicity.

* “The Twilight of the Golds” premieres Sunday at 8 p.m. on Showtime.