Release the week of Aug. 16-22, 1987 CABLE VIEW _| ‘Home Fires’ may be the best cable movie yet By Frank Lovece In “Home Fires,” as in real life, nothing much happens but a lot goes on. This Showtime produc- tion is nowhere near as frenetic as the average TV movie, and in spirit is closer to feature films than to TV. The four- hour, two-part drama de- buts Sunday and Mon- day, Aug. 16 and 1 “Home Fires” traces a few days in the life of Charlie Ash (Guy Boyd), a harried attorney whose last name is most appro- priate. In court, his integ- rity finds no favor with a judge whose mind is al- ready made up. His first wife has gone insane and phones him with dire warnings from the asy- lum. His much younger new wife, Cath (Amy Steel), is rapidly growing old trying to raise his three children. And the children, unlike typical TV kids, are just trying to get by as best they can. Like a good novel, the movie (written by Gill Dennis) takes its time to define each character separately. When their lives converge after the first half-hour, you al- ready know them indi- vidually. And then they interact so believably that it’s almost like eavesdropping on a real family. But this is drama, not real life, and drama re- quires conflict. While most TV shows (and most movies, for that matter) concentrate on visual outer conflict, ‘Home Fires” ingeniously pre- sents the characters’ in- ner conflicts. Cath strug- gles with an unwanted suitor she’d regretfully slept with. Elder son Sam (Max Perlich) carries an inarticulate frustration with school and family. And Charlie tries to build a negligence case despite contradictions, misinfor- mation and shredded documents. Because ‘‘Home Fires” doesn’t move as rapidly as a TV movie, it takes a few minutes to appreci- ate its rhythm. It does drag at times - director Michael Uno includes ex- tended shots of cars turn- ing into driveways and people pulling things out of envelopes, rather than cutting right to the point. But his leisurely pace is deceptive. Soon enough, the cuts and transitions between the characters and their lives takes on the hectic but muted rhythm of everyday com- ings and goings. At four hours over two nights, “Home Fires” is not too long. What it is, perhaps, is the best made-for-cable movie yet.