Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 4, 1995 TAG: 9502090016
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHERINE REED STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"Boys on the Side," the new bosom-buddy road movie that screeches to a halt in Tucson, Ariz., so that it can turn into "Terms of Endearment" or something, wouldn't be so annoying if it weren't for the fact that every now and then it manages to be interesting and intelligent.
But it's as if somewhere along the way, a simple thinker with a big ol' rewrite pen decided that the movie was too heavy, too female, too offbeat. Another part of the problem could be that it was written by Don Roos, who lists among his credits the REALLY insightful, sensitive exploration of female relationships, "Single White Female."
I don't doubt that there are men out there who pay enough attention to how women talk, think and relate to each other to write about us with some accuracy. But "Boys on the Side," directed by Herbert Ross, is so far off at times, it's ludicrous.
It starts out perkily enough: Jane DeLuca (Whoopi Goldberg) has given up on making it big as a singer in New York and spies an ad in the classifieds placed by someone looking for a rider to L.A. That someone is real estate agent Robin Nickerson (Mary-Louise Parker), and despite some initial, obvious compatibility problems, the pair decide to set off for the West together.
First, they stop in Pittsburgh to visit an old friend of Jane's. Holly, a badly written character badly portrayed by Drew Barrymore, who is in the middle of a knock-down-drag-out with her abusive, drug dealer boyfriend when Jane and Robin stop by. In by far the very best, outrageously funny scene in the movie, Robin stops the fight, using her best real estate agent conflict-resolution tactics. Eventually, however, the boyfriend must be roped and tied, and the women must depart, taking Holly with them.
Well, Holly has a secret, but not nearly as big as Robin's. When she gets sick in Tucson, the women are told she'll be fine in a couple of days.
"Three Months Later," the women are peacefully ensconced in a house in the desert, and Jane has apparently landed a gig playing with the Indigo Girls. Jane, you see, has a not-so-secret, too. She's a lesbian, the poor thing. "Luck of the draw," she says with a sigh when Robin asks her why. Oh, there is so much silliness here, one hardly knows where to begin.
The amazing thing is that somehow, Mary-Louise Parker manages to break through and create a believable, fascinating character. Parker exudes complexity, much like Susan Sarandon, and without her - and without its great soundtrack (featuring the Cranberries, Sheryl Crow and Melissa Etheridge, among others) - the movie would fall flat on its face long before it does. Goldberg mugs too much, Barrymore is a throwaway. Estelle Parsons as Robin's mother is terrific as a mother in denial.
But "Boys on the Side," ultimately, suffers from a real identity crisis. It's like an intelligent movie trapped in a stupid movie's body.
|PLEASE SEE BOYS/B7
Boys on the Side **
A Regency Films/Warner Bros. release showing at Tanglewood Mall and Salem Valley 8. Rated R for lots of F-words and some sexually explicit scenes. 118 minutes.
by CNB