A stellar and powerful cast ensures that "The Boys in the Band" will be entertaining and captivating at a very basic and primal level. But the uneven pacing between its first half and second half and a protagonist that we really couldn't sympathize with meant that it misses a lot of its potential.
Michael (Jim Parsons) is preparing to have a birthday celebration for his friend Harold (Zachary Quinto) at his apartment. Not only a birthday party, it will also be a reunion for his group of gay friends. Things get complicated when he receives a distraught call from his college roommate Alan (Brian Hutchinson) wanting to talk to him as soon as possible. But Alan, who has shown homophobic tendencies, still doesn't know that Michael is gay and Michael reschedules their talk to the next day. But when Alan suddenly still shows up uninvited, the evening is thrown into chaos as the truth of Michael's sexuality is revealed.
"The Boys in the Band", being an adaptation of a decades old Broadway play, we're not sure how much was changed. But it seemed like the way it scripted and developed was outdated leaving us ultimately with mixed feelings about its overall impact. The biggest issue we have was its characters. A lot of them seemed to bore hatred towards each other especially with the characters of Michael and Harold. It wasn't really a "happy" reunion or birthday celebration but more of a competition to malign each other with mean and hurtful quips. Maybe it was a reflection of how the times were before but we're kinda hard-pressed to believe this is still happening nowadays. At the center of this madness was the character of Michael played by Jim Parsons. We just couldn't relate to him as much as we wanted to. His character was simply off the charts with his mean streak The narrative comes full circle and provides a deep resolution on why he acts like he acts but it was a little too late for us. Additionally, the first half started really slowly with the film building up heavily in a tense-filled, emotional, and satisfying second half. In the end, what we really loved with "The Boys in the Band" were the performances. Even with a dated script and narrative, the actors were able to provide a gut-wrenching and moving experience through and through.
Rating: 4 reels
Why you should watch it:
- powerful and moving acting from the cast
Why you shouldn't watch it:
- characters acted in a very mean and unrelatable light
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