#70-79

Director: Joe Mantello

Release date: 30-Sep-2020

A remake of the pivotal and outrageously controversial 1960s Off-Broadway show, The Boys in the Band hits as hard today as it did back then. The driving point of the film, that queer people can hate themselves just as much as heteronormative people do, shines through particularly strongly through the host of the party, Michael (Jim Parsons). A self-described Catholic, Michael goes from jovial and self deprecating (and sober) to a cruel and self hating drunk as the party goes from bad to worse to a straight up mess.

The acting is top notch throughout the film. The full cast reprised their roles from the 2018 Off-Broadway revival show, and every actor is openly gay. Knowing this to be the case can make for some extra discomfort for the viewer, as it is likely the actors themselves struggled with many of the emotions that their characters portray throughout the film. Robin de Jesús was a particular stand out in his portrayal of Emory, especially in the scene where Alan (Brian Hutchison) confronts him for being a "queer, cocksucker... goddamn freak".

The director leaned heavily into the fact that this is an adaptation of a stage production. Many of the camera shots feel as if they are actually filming on a stage set, and the out-of-focus characters often act as they would on a stage. Throughout the film, when each character is not the main point of attention, they are seen standing to the side in the background, not interacting with their environment and just waiting for their next cue. It made you focus all of your attention on whoever was speaking, just as you would if you were watching a play. The script is also word for word the same as the stage play. This led to some scenes feeling overacted, as the amount of exposition in stage dialogue felt clunky and unnecessary in the film version.

The characters frequently use homophobic slurs towards themselves and one another, which can be particularly uncomfortable as a viewer, especially when it is revealed that Michael truly believes that to be homosexual is unnatural and something that should be prayed away. Michael also uses racial slurs about the only black character in the film Bernard (Michael Benjamin Washington). When asked about how he felt about the use of the racial epithet, Washington said:

If you're setting a play in 1968 and you have a black character and we're gonna pretend like he's not black, then your not telling the truth.

Overall, the movie was carried by some phenomenal acting, but minorly let down by a loose script and some uncomfortable directorial choices. While it is clear that Mantello deliberately chose to keep the film as stage-like as possible, the movie could be that much better if it was just tightened up a little to make the adoption to film go more smoothly.

Watched on Netflix 04-Jul-2021.