leeper@mtgzx.att.com (Mark R. Leeper) (06/05/90)
LONGTIME COMPANION
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1990 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: The tragic effect of AIDS on the gay
community is movingly brought to the screen. This American
Playhouse production may be the most adult and substantial
film released this summer, albeit one of the least expensive.
Rating: high +1.
Some of the best films being shown in theaters are actually made for
television. They are productions for PBS's "American Playhouse" that get
their initial release in movie theaters before getting shown on public
television. It is a positive-sum strategy since a theatrical release will
help pay for the film. Since the film is already made for another venue the
investment to get it into the theaters is relatively meager. And it is nice
to see a film a little more substantial than BACK TO THE FUTURE III or FIRE
BIRDS playing on the wide screen.
Norman Rene directed Craig Lucas's screenplay. The subject is a group
of gay friends living on Fire Island and in Manhattan and how AIDS changed
their lives. They go from an apparently carefree existence in the early
Eighties through somber and often frightening changes as the disease claims
victims from among their numbers. The behaviors we see are very much
universal to epidemics and plagues. Initially the diseases are taken with
concern but also with an occasional flippant optimism. We see weird
explanations of what the epidemic "really is." Paranoia poisons the former
carefree friendships. All the while the disease is taking its toll in the
decreasing circle of friends.
LONGTIME COMPANION has too many major characters to keep them all
straight (no pun intended), particularly because they all look like
wholesome, male WASPs, but the center of the group is David, played by Bruce
Davison. Davison's acting goes unnoticed until his character is placed
under a severe emotional strain. Then Davison does some excellent acting
that must be about the best he has ever done. Also notable is Mary-Louise
Parker as a close (heterosexual) friend.
A couple of touches in the script are worth mentioning. There is a
reference in the 1982 sequence to William Hurt playing a gay character. I
believe they are alluding to Hurt's performance in the 1985 KISS OF THE
SPIDER WOMAN. Also, there are about ten dated sequences and all but the
last four take place on Fridays. That seems too many for coincidence, yet
none of the last four is a Friday. (I am probably the only one who notices
these things.)
LONGTIME COMPANION is not great. I would give it a high +1 on the -4
to +4 scale. But at a reported $1.5 million in production cost and with a
timely subject, this film is probably a very good choice for a theatrical
release.
Mark R. Leeper
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leeper@mtgzx.att.com