Boys on the Side

Plot synopsis:
Three unique women embark on a cross-country road trip: Jane (Whoopi Goldberg), a lesbian lounge singer in search of a new life after breaking up with her girlfriend and getting fired; Holly (Drew Barrymore), a pregnant girl who just wants to escape her brutal boyfriend; and Robin (Mary-Louise Parker), an uptight real estate agent who has her own secrets (namely being infected with HIV).
Robin puts an ad in the newspaper that she is looking for a traveling companion to accompany her on a cross country trip to California. Jane answers the ad and agrees to join Robin after her car gets towed during their meeting. Jane and Robin leave New York City and travel through Pittsburgh to take Jane's friend Holly to lunch. They stumble across a knock out-fight between Holly and her abusive boyfriend, Nick, over some missing drugs.
They leave him there bound to a chair with tape after Holly hits him in the head with a bat to stop him from attacking Jane. Later, he frees himself from the chair, stumbles across the floor, falls and hits his head on the bat and dies. The three unlikely travelers then form a special friendship on their journey which sees them through ultimately tragic times.
After discovering that Nick is dead and that Holly is pregnant, the three women decide to continue across country and end up in Tucson, Arizona when Robin has to be hospitalized. They decide to stay in Tucson, hoping to start a new life. However, Jane has a secret crush on Robin, Holly falls in love with and eventually confesses to a local police officer named Abe Lincoln (Matthew McConaughey), and Robin finds the courage to face her impending death.
Shortly after Jane and Robin have a falling out over Jane telling a friendly bartender (James Remar) who was interested in Robin that she has HIV, Holly is arrested by Abe. She is taken back to Pittsburgh to face the consequences of her actions. The return to Pittsburgh involves Robin and Jane making peace with each other on the courthouse's "Bridge of Sighs" while the Pittsburgh Police process Holly.
A few months pass, in Tucson, Holly is free and with Abe and her daughter, which is celebration to all family and friends. Robin is now farther along with AIDS and is not expected to live much longer. The party asks Robin to sing the Roy Orbison song "You Got It" as she performed that song in a Star Search contest; though weak, she manages to sing with Jane backing her singing. In the final scene, Robin has died from AIDS as her wheelchair is now empty, Holly and Abe plan to stay in Arizona and become a family, while Jane hits the road to finally seek a life of her own.

Tags: comedy, murder, paranormal, violence, tragedy, romantic

Review:
'Boys on the side' is a very touching movie that looks essentially at what it means to be a woman, trapped inside a man's world.
It also looks into what it means to be sick, which I have been no stranger too, either....Three women sharing a car going west, team up in this winning celebration of camaraderie, caring and friendship which quickly becomes a family, in 'Boys on the Side'.
The three main girls in 'Boys on the side' include the 'lesbo' Jane (Whoppi Goldberg), Robin (well acted by the talented Mary-Louise Parker), who is being helped to drive across America by Jane, and the fun loving and partly liberated Holly (Drew Barrymore).
It is Holly's great personality and character that turn these best friends into a very close-nit family.
I am interested in seeing McConaughey's latest film, titled 'How to lose a guy in 10 days'.The director of BOTS was Hebert Ross (from the brilliant 80's movie, Steel Magnolias).
I love how he brought out the movie's main themes of sex and sexuality (gay and straight), the empowerment of women, friendship, sickness, humour and what it means to be a family.But the movie's story was also a highlight from where I viewed it.
Lines like when Holly asks Robin at the dinner table, `We're you?' in reference to her and Jane having a sexual relationship, the next few lines are great.
The title of the film was well thought up, considering the line that Robin's mother says to her daughter, `You can't fight nature, God knows you women keep trying, treating your men like side dishes, stick a fork in when needed, just like men used to treat us.' That line is basically what the film is all about.Another great part to this film was its soundtrack.
I am sure that the powers behind this movie wanted such a performer, considering one of the main characters in the film was also gay.I watched this film, just a few weeks after seeing a movie that I am sure inspired the writer of the script, that being 'Thelma and Louise'.
Parts of 'Boys on the side' has a similar feel to 'Thelma and Louise' - that of women on a road trip, trying to break free of men's hold on them.
While a lot of the film is original, it has a very touching ending, to what can only be described as a very emotional movie.
I also feel that director Herbert Ross, allows us to experience what each character is going through in life and does not shrug away from any issues that other movies might simply try and avoid.
With a cleverly incorporated soundtrack, 'Boys on the side', is a movie that we can all learn from, to try and improve not only our friendships that we have, but how we live our lives in a world that can be cruel, harsh and unfair.CMRS gives 'Boys on the side': 4 (Very Good Film).
Absorbing, funny and incredibly aware comedy-drama about three ladies on a road trip: Whoopi Goldberg as a lesbian lounge singer, Drew Barrymore as a pregnant, unmarried waif, and Mary-Louise Parker as an uptight woman trying to loosen up (and suffering from HIV).
Barrymore is at her best here, Goldberg is outstanding, and Parker--while not a varied actress--does solid work.
Drew Barrymore really makes this movie what it is as the dizzy (blonde of course) Holly, with her fresh and upbeat view on life.
Moreover, this film shows that Barrymore can not only play the slutty, seductive parts (e.g The Amy Fisher Story, Poison Ivy) but a role which mixes both.
It's definitely a chick flick (although the guys may drool over a blonde Barrymore.)  However the actor who plays Abe Lincoln is an eye catcher.This is not one of Whoopi Goldberg's best roles and I didn't think her part as the lesbian was believeable, yet she did display both strength and humor to keep you interested.
Mary Louise Parker was excellent and her performance was on line with her part.Definitely a movie for a Barrymore fan and if you need a heart warming movie to keep you interested at night.
I found Mary-Louise Parker's character so like myself that it was hilarious!
Drew Barrymore, lovely as ever in her role, provided the much-needed sparkle to the movie.
Then remake me a chick or a dyke to get the kind of real, unbridled love -- romantic and platonic -- that these women have for each other and their hetero spouses/friends.Mary-Louise Parker's character is so sad, yet so rich.
I especially love Mary Jane Parker in this film even though all the actors are great.The film has so many great lines in it too and who would have known Whoopi Goldberg has a decent singing voice.
Great movie about three women (Whoppi Goldberg, Mary-Louise Parker, Drew Barrymore) and their various adventures as they travel cross-country.
All three are fantastic and the film manages (more or less) to juggle many plot elements (AIDS, lesbianism, pregnancy, drugs, violence, murder etc etc) and deal with them all effectively.Parker is probably the first woman ever to play a straight woman with AIDS in a major Hollywood film--quite a feat.
The film is long but never dull and it all ends to a very moving final sequence--I cry every time I see it!Two minor quibbles--it takes Barrymore over a year to have her baby and there are obvious cuts in the second half of the movie (I assume this was to keep the film down to two hours).
Count the chick-flick conventions: The revenge on the abusive boyfriend; the three so-different young women bonding; the mother-daughter conflicts; the road trip; the scene where somebody sings "Happy Birthday" to somebody amid much general rejoicing; the adorable baby; the tear-wringing incurable-disease character; etc.
The three leads are good, a young Matthew McConnaughey isn't yet annoying, and there are nice turns from Estelle Parsons and Anita Gillette, a Broadway baby decades earlier who matured into a proficient character actress.
You can't say there aren't good roles written for women after having seen Boys On The Side.
Three plumb parts are written here for Mary Louise Parker, Whoopi Goldberg, and Drew Barrymore and another good one for Anita Gillette as Parker's mother.Parker is in need of someone to share road expenses on a move west and Goldberg answers an advertisement in New York.
The last time I saw a film with a plot premise like this was Kalifornia where David Duchovny takes on a psychotic Brad Pitt as a traveling companion with their respective women.
In a much lighter vein Charlie Ruggles and Mary Boland got Burns&Allen and a large great dane in Six Of A Kind.Boys On The Side falls between these other films in its humor ratio.
The trenchant observations the women have about life and love are the best part of the film.
All three have secrets we all learn, one of them is dying.Best two scenes in the film are Goldberg on the stand giving as good as she gets with prosecutor Dennis Boutsikaris and Parker and Gillette having a good mother and daughter hair letting down.Matthew McConaughey got some early attention here as a deputy sheriff who falls for Barrymore.
A rare and lovely movie focusing on female friendship, Boys On the Side explores 3 women, the way they sabotage themselves and how they love each other anyway.
Mary-Louise Parker is Robin, an uptight real estate agent dying of AIDS.
Whoopie Goldberg is Jane, a black lesbian singer who also wants to go to California in hopes of getting more work.
And in Tucson they stay, with Jane getting work at a local bar, Robin getting involved with the bartender that works there, and Holly- who is pregnant, maybe by Nick or maybe not- falls in love with a cop named, of all things, Abe Lincoln.
Thus forms the glue which holds together Goldberg, Parker, and Barrymore and the conglomeration of characters which coalesce around them in this sentimental tale with humor, charm, and poignancy and its share of sappy, weepy, and corny moments.
first of all let me say that this movie in no means should be compared to Thelma and Louise...they are two totally different movies, both good but very different.....boys on the side has great acting, a great soundtrack, an interesting story line and even though it may not be a "guys" movie i think that anyone can enjoy this movie.....whoopie Goldberg is as superb as ever and even though i wasn't a fan of Mary Louise parker before i saw this movie i definitely am now.....even though the drew Barrymore character is a bit over the top she plays it so well we can forgive her!
"Boys On The Side" is the movie that has it all and one of my absolute favorite movies!When reading the plot this movie might seem ordinary and non-interesting like another "Thelma and Louise" wannabe: Three girls in a car on the run from a police charge.
Beyond the - at first sight - simple plot hides unexpectedly deep and complex characters brought to life in stunning acting performances by Whoopi Goldberg, Mary-Louise Parker, Drew Barrymore and cameo Anita Gillette.
Actually (as intended) it is these strong female characters and the emotional interactions between them that hold this movie together.
The few male characters in the movie are (as the title indicates) kept on a side track, though they are of great importance to the development of the three women.However, what I like the most about "Boys On The Side" is its delicate mixture of humor and drama taking you on an emotional journey with equal room for laughs and tears.
With charm, warmth and wits this movie gives you a story about love, friendship, solidarity, and discovering the true values in life, as it also treats delicate issues like homosexuality and AIDS in a non-offensive way that most people will be able to relay to.Another successful addition to this fantastic movie is the soundtrack, which is a carefully selected collection of songs performed by strong female artists, i.e. Sheryl Crow, The Cranberries, Annie Lennox, Pretenders and more."Boys On The Side" may not be the perfect movie for a romantic evening with your boyfriend, but as a "girls' movie" on a night out with your friends it is highly recommendable.
Boys on the Side is a powerful but sometimes amusing melodrama about the lives of three woman with different backgrounds coming together to celebrate the lives of women on their earnest road trip.
This film may also be a little more on the feminist side, but I didn't mind that much since women are equal to men and should have their stories told as well.Herbert Ross's film is about a wisecracking club singer, an uptight saleswoman, and a young, free spirit all joining crossroads so they can travel cross-county from New York to California.The acting is very good.
Drew Barrymore is also very good and she seems to be my kind of girl.Overall, this is very powerful film about womenhood and some of the problems they face.
From Whoopi Goldberg, Mary Louise Parker, Drew Barrymore - that's just for starters - a solid cast.
Our three heroines go out into the wild blue yonder just like Thelma and Louise, even leaving a body behind, but things take a sentimental turn and at times descends into mush.
Whoopi Goldberg, Mary-Louise Parker and Drew Barrymore may initially sound like the casting idea if one wanted to make a film with some really strong miscasting.
It all has to do with the sometimes comedic and sometimes dramatic adventures of a lesbian singer (Goldberg) who's currently unemployed, her real estate agent new lover (Parker) and a drug addled friend (Barrymore) who leads them all on the run after she fatally assaults her abusive boyfriend.
It follows 3 lady's Whoopi Goldberg,Drew Barrymore and Marry-louise Parker who set out for a better new life.
Whoopi Goldberg plays an amazing part in this film she warms your heart by making you laugh and then making you cry.
This movie truly explores the powerful bond between women,and leaves you with the knowledge that the female friendships of the world are stronger than any love affair ever could be.
fantastic, sentimental movie about the death, men, woman and true friendship.
I am a huge Roos fan (loved "The Opposite of Sex"), so I was totally surprised to find that he wrote "Boys On The Side." I wish he had directed it, too, because although Herbert Ross is a master of "women's films,"  I think Roos' slightly less sentimental hand would have made a better movie.
Still, I liked it before I knew who wrote it;  usually I can't stand either Barrymore or Goldberg, but both were very effective here, and Parker just proves again why she deserves a much higher profile in Hollywood.
All in all, a great little film that is completely inclusive of various minorities (shows how easily it can be done) AND which features two of my favorite actors, James Remar and Matthew McConnaughey, in two very sympathetic performances.
I like what you might call "sappy" films sometimes, they just fill me up, heavy dramas are necessary at times.
Whoopi Goldberg, Mary Louise Parker, and Drew Barrymore all turn in fine performances here, Goldberg and Parker especially.
She joins the unbelieveably amazing Mary-Louise Parker and the effervescent Drew Barrymore!
A serious film about relationships, with excellent performances by the three principals: Whoopi Goldberg, Mary-Louise Parker, and Dru Barrymore..
But dominating the movie is Mary-Louise Parker, who plays a lonely woman and is the one who's illness causes the trip to stop in Tucson.
Real estate agent Robin (Mary-Louise Parker) puts an ad in the papers looking to drive to San Diego with somebody.
They stop at Pittsburgh to see Jane's flirtatious friend Holly (Drew Barrymore).
Bar owner Alex falls for Robin.The first half is a road trip like 'Thelma & Louise'.
The movie is both funny and sad, like real life.
I've always thought Mary Louise Parker is a great actress, though sometimes I have tired of her "victim" roles - before her "Weeds" days (love Weeds)!
Good comedy/drama movie that promotes close bond between women.Well produced with good performances although the story was blatantly prejudiced towards men.Barrymore looks very delicious and Goldberg gives us her best since THE COLOR PURPLE.Not for men who do not like seeing women's points of view.......
BOYS ON THE SIDE **** Herbert Ross's last work, 'Boys On The Side' tells a unique, special story of the bonds between three women as they take a cross-country drive, end up in Nevado, and struggle through hardships, progressively developing in their character.
I wanted to like this film bit I really didn't.
Maybe it's because the above mentioned film is my all time favorite and this seemed a little bit of a rip off-women.
Even the previews made it look so much like Thelma.Or maybe I was spoiled by Thelma and Louise, to me no other female road trip movie even comes close.
Although I will say this was a tear jerker with interesting characters and good acting(the much better then average cast in my opinion is what saves this movie), on a whole I found it to INTENTIONALLY sappy and unoriginal.
It has not aged well, influenced by popular 80s films like Thelma and Louise, Fried Green Tomatoes or Steel Magnolias -- female pal movies that were much better than this one.In fact, Mary-Louise Parker is pretty much reprising the same exact role from Fried Green Tomatoes only in contemporary dress.
It's all about "bonding" between these 3 very different women who honestly have nothing in common, and one is dying and another has a deeply creepy crush on her.There is a time-line here set by Drew's character's pregnancy -- she is visibly pregnant as soon as they are in Tucson and has her baby near the end, so the whole film must be happened in under 7 months and more likely 3-4 months.
Add to this the fact that all the fellas are either schmucks or complete losers, and not only is it obvious the girls want to go it alone for a good reason, but it's also clear that this is an ordinary, forgettable film.Whoopi Goldberg has been infinitely better than this, and though both she and Mary Louise Parker (in a role similar to that in "Fried Green Tomatoes") are competent, we know they're both well below par here.
Mary-Louise Parker's character was perfectly drawn and acted.
I'm sorry, but I did not like "Thelma and Louise." This movie had more depth to it even though it is sort of sappy at times; but still, it was good.
Mary-Louise Parker stole the film with her frail health, yet she holds nothing back verbally.
During the trial in this movie when Mary's character was a witness for "Holly" played by Drew Barrymore, she was trying to say that women have a special bond that takes place just like men do, yet not as many women are hardly ever quick to judge men when they get together or maybe even assume they are "gay." We all just take it at fact value which is that it's "Boys' night out." Women are still being misunderstood when they remain friends like the three women were in this movie.
This film by The Sunshine Boys director Herbert Ross is quite a good drama with very small elements of comedy.
Basically lesbian Jane (Whoopi Goldberg) is a night club singer, out of work.
AIDS suffering Robin (Mary-Louise Parker) is a quirky real estate agent looking for a ride-share to accompany her to California, this is answered by at first unsure Jane.
In Pittsburgh they pick up a third, one-night stand and man loving Holly (Drew Barrymore), escaping a violent and drug-dealing partner.