{"product_id":"the-gathering","title":"The Gathering","description":"Amazon.com\n\nA fondly remembered holiday item from the latter phase of a great age of TV movies, The Gathering has an irresistible idea and a splendid central performance from Edward Asner, the actor for whom the term gruff but lovable was surely coined. We learn in the opening seconds of the film that Asner's character, a well-to-do businessman named Adam Thornton, has been diagnosed with a terminal illness; he's got three months left, at best. Time to make amends, and Adam reaches out to his ex-wife (Maureen Stapleton) and his mostly estranged kids for a final Christmas gathering. You won't find many surprises along the way, but the script by veteran screenwriter James Poe takes time for the small things, and gives Asner a believably conflicted character to play. It's directed by Randal Kleiser, who was just a year away from jumping to a big-screen career and scoring a smash with Grease. There's also some interest in watching a batch of young actors in the early stages of their careers: Bruce Davison, Gregory Harrison, Veronica Hamel, and Stephanie Zimbalist are in the Thornton extended family. If The Gathering has the basic look and feel of a TV movie (with wintry location work in Ohio), it nevertheless creates an honest, earned glow as it sorts through one man's final accounting of what has mattered in his life. --Robert Horton\n\nProduct Description\n\nGathering, The (1976 TVM) (DVD)\nEdward Asner and Maureen Stapleton star in this poignant and heartwarming story of the reconciliation between a successful businessman and the family he long ago abandoned to pursue a career. When Adam Thornton (Asner) learns that he is terminally ill, his estranged wife (Stapleton) insists that he spend one last Christmas with his now-adult children. Adam agrees--but insists that they not know of his illness. Now, in an idyllic, snow-covered New England town, the Thornton family tries to find reunion before it is too late. ]]\u0026gt;\u003cbr\u003eASIN: B005DVIOXQ\u003cbr\u003eVSKU: DBV.B005DVIOXQ.N\u003cbr\u003eCondition: New\u003cbr\u003eAuthor\/Artist:Joseph Barbera|Harry R. Sherman|Edward Asner|Lawrence Pressman|Gregory Harrison|Rebecca Balding|Bruce Davison|Maureen Stapleton|Sarah Cunningham|Ed Asner|Veronica Hamel|John Randolph|Gail Strickland|James Karen|Edward Winter|Stephanie Zimbalist|James Poe|Randal Kleiser\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Dvd\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNote:\u003c\/b\u003e Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.  \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Dream Books Co.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41322726883386,"sku":"DBV.B005DVIOXQ.N","price":10.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/6011\/0138\/files\/B005DVIOXQ-0.jpg?v=1774978465","url":"https:\/\/shop.dreambooksco.com\/products\/the-gathering","provider":"Dream Books Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}