The Boys in the Band
Where: Netflix
When: Now
Rated: R for sexual content, language, some graphic nudity and drug use Runtime: 2 hours, 2 minutes
Stars (of 4): 666
movie pulling you into the interpersonal dynamics of these characters.
Oh, to have been around when this play debuted offBroadway in 1968 and, understandably, created quite a stir. As the movie’s production notes put it, the play came “a half-century before our current strides toward equality,” when “gays and lesbians were forbidden to be themselves in public, where they could be arrested, fired, shunned, even beaten.”
Interestingly, Crowley wrote the play after New York Times critic Stanley Kauffman challenged gay playwrights to stop disguising the male-male relationships they wanted to examine through the lens of male-female dynamics and actually write gay characters.
Donald (Matt Bomer), to whom Michael laments about the elaborate combover hiding his receding hairline.
“What you see before you is a masterpiece of deception,” Michael says.
Before others can arrive, Michael gets a call from his old college roommate, Alan (Brian Hutchison), who is in the city for the night and wants to stop by his place. Michael explains that it wouldn’t be a great idea to invite him to this specific party, and, after Alan breaks down crying, they eventually make plans to have lunch the next day.
Soon, most of the remaining guests arrive: Larry (Andrew Rannells), a commercial artist who’s in a committed relationship but who has a constantly wandering eye; Hank ( Tuc Watkins), a math teacher who has left his wife and family to move in with Larry; Emory (Robin De Jesus), a decorator who has trouble not offering every zinger that pops into his head; and Bernard (Michael Benjamin), a librarian and Black man caught between two worlds.
Also added to the mix are Cowboy (Charlie Carver), a young sex worker hired by Emory, and the aforementioned Alan, who decides to come by the apartment anyway.
Lastly, the guest of honor, Harold (Quinto) — whose Jewish heritage and poor complexion can make it hard for him to leave home — arrives.
While the tension-filled dynamic between Michael and Harold drives much of the momentum of “The Boys in the Band,” the movie has more than enough friction among its various characters. One particularly impactful moment comes from the way Emory has long treated his good friend Bernard, and then there’s the uncomfortable phone game Michael insists his guests play.
Not surprisingly, fishout-of-water Alan also is frequently used as a means to generate drama. A straight man (we’re told, even if we’re not so sure), he is turned off by the flamboyant Emory, identifies with the masculine Hank and is taken aback when learning there’s more to Hank than there initially appears to be. Relatedly, he almost immediately finds an enemy in Emory, whose behavior appalls him.
“The Boys in the Band” has so many characters that it can’t quite do justice to all of them. Thanks in part to the performances of the actors who inhabit them, we’d love to have gotten more insight into Bernard and Donald, especially — not that we don’t get some. Plus, in general, the viewer gets much insight into the mental makeups of these men, including, sadly, varying amounts of self-hatred.
Like life, this party can be messy.
The acting, in general, is a strength of the film, with Quinto and Parsons shining in what are arguably the two most important roles. As he did with the recent Netflix limited series “Hollywood,” Parsons gets to show he can portray somebody far different from Sheldon on CBS’S “The Big Bang Theory,” which made him a star. (Like “Hollywood,” “The Boys in the Band” is part of Hollywood heavyweight Ryan Murphy’s five-year megadeal to produce content for Netflix.)
While perhaps not quite as vital as it was five-plus decades ago, “The Boys in the Band” feels something close to required viewing.
It certainly is if you’re missing the theater.