The Blackwater Lightship (2004)

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This Hallmark Hall of Fame offering stars Keith McErlean as Declan, a 30-year-old Irishman who is dying of AIDS. Remembering how he and his sister Helen (Gina McKee) once stayed with their grandmother Dora (Angela Lansbury) during their fathers' terminal illness, Declan concludes that Dora's place… More This Hallmark Hall of Fame offering stars Keith McErlean as Declan, a 30-year-old Irishman who is dying of AIDS. Remembering how he and his sister Helen (Gina McKee) once stayed with their grandmother Dora (Angela Lansbury) during their fathers' terminal illness, Declan concludes that Dora's place would be an excellent safe harbor for his own last few months on Earth. While Dora is a lovable eccentric blessed with wicked wit and boundless acceptance of the way things are, Declan's mother Lily (Dianne Wiest) is more aloof and conservative -- and she is deeply disturbed not only by her son's imminent demise, but also by the fact that she never knew he was gay. Adding to Lily's discomfiture is Helen's decision to briefly leave her husband and children to help Declan in his declining days...not to mention the arrival of her son's colorful gay friends Paul (Sam Robards) and Larry (Bryan O'Byrne). A moving tale of love and understanding "contemporary Irish" style, The Blackwater Lightship was first telecast February 4, 2004, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi