Zachary FenellBoys on the Side
January 27th 2009 15:06
Boys on the Side, 1995
The husbster has been dragged to a lot of chick flicks, but not by me. Normally, that sappy sweet crap just makes my brain hurt, and don't even get me started on the mind-numbing murder-inducing "sub-genre" of comedy of errors. I'd have more fun removing strips of skin with a lemon peeler than watching most chick flicks.
That being said, Boys on the Side was a Friday-night standard for me many moons ago in a galaxy far away when I was single. It was this movie, Leaving Normal, some Humphrey Bogart flick, and a six-pack of beer. I watched it so many times that the dialogue was very close to memorized. It's not (despite what the hubster seems to think) a standard "flick for chicks" - it's deeper than that, bigger than that, and does not have that saccharine Happily Ever After (though life does go on). (I'm told that the makers of this film were shooting for that, but thank the gods they missed.)
Boys on the Side tells the story of Jane (Whoopi Goldberg), a lesbian singer in New York who decides to head out to L.A. to try for a change of luck. She hooks up (in a purely non-sexual way) with Robin (Mary-Louise Parker) to make the trek. Robin is a real estate agent who just really needs to get out of town and make it back to San Diego. Along the way, they pick up Holly (Drew Barrymore) and end up in a spot of unforeseen trouble. Due to plot points that I really don't want to spoil for you, they end up staying in Tuscon, Arizona.
Here's what makes this remarkable:
It's not about lesbianism or the dangers of homosexuality. It's not about bad relationships going worse or women banding together in a bond of bondi-ness for women. (I'm told that was also something the makers were going for, and, again, thank the gods they missed.) It's a story that rung a little too true for me sometimes, with that very real look at lesbianism, at dying and the grieving process, and the realistic consequences of actions - and life still goes on. That's the upshot, that's the purpose: Life. Still. Goes. On.
You'll also get to see a very fresh-faced Matthew McConaughey in one of his earlier roles as the dumbest and yet most ethically adorable cops ever.
This movie gets 4 stars. It's not perfect, but it's got something beautiful to say, and it doesn't strain itself trying to say it.
4 Stars
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