Boys On the Side belongs to a sub-set of Hollywood product that could be dubbed «Ibsen Lite». Characters in these tear-jerkers harbour a terrible secret, a secret which is revealed over the course of the film. All three leads in Herbert Ross' film have skeletons in the closet: Whoopi Goldberg is a lesbian, Mary-Louise Parker has Aids and Drew Barrymore is pregnant.
The film starts off as an engaging road movie. Earthy Jane (Whoopi Goldberg) is sacked from fronting a third rate bar band and decides to move to San Francisco. She agrees to drive cross-country with prissy Robin (Mary-Louise Parker), picking up wild child Drew Barrymore on the way. They are wrongly implicated in a murder and hole up in Tucson, Arizona.
Donald Roos' screenplay has many funny moments («In the late 70s I was going to be the new Aretha until the old Aretha came along and suddenly she was the new Aretha,» opines Goldberg), and the film's theme, that you make your own family, is a liberal one for Hollywood.
Director Herbert Ross (The Turning Point, Steel Magnolias) is most frequently compared to George Cukor (Born Yesterday, Adam's Rib): both are at their most self-assured when directing ensemble pieces for women. TIM ADLER
Prod co: Le Studio Canal+, Regency Enterprises, Alcor Films
Exec prods: Don Roos, Patricia Karlan
Prod: Arnon Milchan, Steven Reuther, Herbert Ross
Co-prod: Patrick McCormick
Dir: Herbert Ross
Scr: Don Roos
Ph: Donald E Thorin
Prod des: Ken Adam
Ed: Michael R Miller
Mus: David Newman
Cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Mary-Louise Parker, Drew Barrymore
Running time: 117 mins.
