This has been bugging my brother and I for ages, and seeing recent success of other threads thought I would give it a go!
Its an American film we would have seen on TV in the 80s and set in that decase. It features a relationship (most likely uncle/nephew, teacher/student type, not a couple) between a younger male with some kind of learning disability or brain injury that made him come across as younger than his years - he was late tens early 20s if I recall. He referred to the older male as Bubba or Papa Rhodes (?sp), and we remember one scene where the young man becomes upset as if the older man is very ill or dies.
If anyone can put us out of our misery, I would be eternally grateful 😃