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Boys on the Side (1995)
Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins
Synopsis: BOYS ON THE SIDE is a simultaneously funny and moving drama of self-discovery. Three very different women find themselves together at individual crossroads in their lives. When Jane (Whoopi Goldberg) a street-smart New York lesbian, answers an ad to drive across the country, she meets... BOYS ON THE SIDE is a simultaneously funny and moving drama of self-discovery. Three very different women find themselves together at individual crossroads in their lives. When Jane (Whoopi Goldberg) a street-smart New York lesbian, answers an ad to drive across the country, she meets Robin (Mary-Louise Parker), a prim and proper real-estate agent desperate to flee the city. The seemingly opposite pair embarks on a road trip together, concealing truths about one another: Robin is suffering from AIDS in silence, and Jane hides her homosexuality. Along the way they stop in Pittsburgh to visit Jane's friend Holly (Drew Barrymore). Holly is involved in an abusive relationship with her junkie boyfriend Nick, and when Jane attempts to take Holly with her, Nick violently intervenes. When Robin hears all the commotion, she miraculously saves the day by calming Nick down, then binding him to a chair while Holly packs her bags. However, as the three women travel west, Jane spies Nick's photograph in a newspaper--in an obituary. The trio decides to continue the journey, finding strength in one another's friendship. Director Herb Ross's touching film examines the bonds these women form as they endure heartache and love together in spite of their differences. [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Whoopi Goldberg, Drew Barrymore, Mary-Louise Parker, James Remar, Billy Wirth
Producer: Arnon Milchan, Steven Reuther
Screenwriter: Don Roos
Composer: David Newman
DVD Info
Release:
May 11, 2007
Reviews
Touching drama about some idiosyncratic people who must learn how to help and be helped by those who cherish them.
One of those "chick flicks" that actually tries to wedge some sincerity into the equation.
The three women are so spirited and funny -- so emotionally keyed into all the hearts and flowers -- that they give the movie their own kind of truth.
Here he has Whoopi Goldberg, Mary-Louise Parker, Drew Barrymore and James Remar to distract us from the depths to which Ross habitually stoops in the never-ending quest to reacquaint an audience with its cheapest emotions.


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