X
- 2020
- R
- Netflix
- 2 h 1 m
- 2020
- R
- Netflix
- 2 h 1 m
Summary A group of gay men gather for a birthday party in 1968 New York City, only to find the drinks and laughs interrupted when a visitor from the host's past turns the evening upside down.
Directed By: Joe Mantello
Written By: Mart Crowley, Ned Martel
- 2020
- R
- Netflix
- 2 h 1 m
- 2020
- R
- Netflix
- 2 h 1 m
The Boys in the Band
70
6.7
Where to Watch
Summary A group of gay men gather for a birthday party in 1968 New York City, only to find the drinks and laughs interrupted when a visitor from the host's past turns the evening upside down.
Directed By: Joe Mantello
Written By: Mart Crowley, Ned Martel
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 23 Critic Reviews
70
83% Positive
19 Reviews
19 Reviews
17% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 23 Critic Reviews
70
83% Positive
19 Reviews
19 Reviews
17% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
The result is a sophisticated, tart-tongued revival, and a gayed-up “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” that surmounts the challenges faced by stage-to-screen adaptations, specifically the utter confinement to a single space.
Strongly acted and effectively staged, The Boys In The Band has lost little of its impact in the five decades since its first debut, and is a fitting tribute to its creator Mart Crowley, who died in March.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 35 User Ratings
6.7
54% Positive
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
31% Mixed
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
14% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 35 User Ratings
6.7
54% Positive
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
31% Mixed
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
14% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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( 90/100 )
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La película debut del actor y director de teatro Joe Mantello logró una pieza de cine teatral que fluye con las palabras y los discursos de sus personajes. Estos están tan bien construidos fuera del guión que, una vez dentro, el talento recita y hace brillar las palabras y la personalidad en cada discurso. El conflicto verbal es simplemente completo, inteligente y abarca dilemas y problemas que son tan reales y existen con tanta fuerza en la comunidad LGBTQ+ que "The Boys In The Band" gana una importancia necesaria de reconocer.
Al terminar de ver el film, se siente lo pesado de meramente ser alguien y la culpa de querer disfrutar ser uno mismo. Los resentimientos, la ansiedad, los tormentos de no ser "normal" y la urgencia en "ser parte de", en la sociedad, en la misma comunidad y de uno mismo, se vuelven palpables, claros e innegables. El guión es el mejor que he visto en mucho tiempo gracias a la tensión, el miedo y pánico que existe en las palabras que se recitan, así mismo la presión desbocada de poder expresar una a una las emociones que se retienen en la vida entera.
En ese aspecto, Jim Parson, Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, Tuc Watkins, Michael Benjamin Washington, Robin De Jesus y Zachary Quinto, todos y cada uno, tienen un momento muy importante de brillar, tanto en actuación como en guión, en discurso y en personalidad.
En la cuestión técnica, existe un ritmo que se admira por respetar la naturalidad de la interacción y la personalidad de la situación completa. La edición le da lugar a las interrupciones, los discursos entrecruzados, las reacciones del perímetro y la profundidad visual. Como ver todo lo que sucede con todos y en todos lados en una obra de teatro.
Con un elenco impresionante, un guión inigualable, poderoso y lleno de suspenso, y con elegancia técnica, "The Boys In The Band" por Joe Mantello se lleva el lugar más especial del cine del 2020 en mi corazón.
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Actor and theater director Joe Mantello's debut film is a theatrical piece of cinema that flows with the words and speeches of its characters. They are so well developed outside of the script that, once inside, the talent recites and makes the words and personality shine in each speech. The verbal conflict is simply complete, intelligent, and embraces problems and dilemmas that are so real and exists with such a strength in the LGBTQ+ community that “The Boys In The Band” wins a relevance that must be acknowledged.
At the end of the film, it can be felt how heavy it can be just to merely be someone and the guilt of wanting to enjoy oneself. The resentment, the anxiety, the torments of not being “normal” and the urge to “be part of” in the society, in the community, and of oneself, become tangible, clear, and undeniable. The script is the best that I've seen in a long time, given to the tension, fear, and panic that exist in words, just like the flooded pressure of being able to express, one by one, the withheld emotions of a lifetime.
In that aspect, Jim Parson, Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, Tuc Watkins, Michael Benjamin Washington, Robin De Jesus, and Zachary Quinto, all and each one of them, have a really important moment to glow, both in acting and with the script, on speech and personality.
On the technical side, there's a rhythm admired for respecting the naturalness of the interaction and the personality of the whole situation. The editing gives place to the interruptions, the crisscrossed speeches, the perimeter reactions, and the visual deepness. Like seeing what happens with everyone and everywhere in a theater play.
With an astonishing cast, an unmatched script, powerful and full of suspense, and with technical elegance, “The Boys In The Band” by Joe Mantello takes the most special place of the 2020 cinema in my heart.
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The ensemble cast, reunited from the 2018 production, is never less than mesmerizing, even in the context of what is essentially a museum piece.
Mantello is the first to tell people he hasn’t had a lot of experience directing movies (his last feature was the 1997 adaptation of his Broadway hit Love! Valour! Compassion!), yet his version of Boys fights its stage roots far more than Friedkin’s film.
The ensemble is superb, and each member has at least one standout moment, but the movie rides on the shoulders of Parsons, as Michael, the host of the party.
I prefer, and recommend, the original, but I’m on the fence about this one. Your mileage may vary.
Whether or not you think Crowley’s very of-its-moment piece still has something to say to audiences of the 21st century, it’s a play that deserves better than this waxwork karaoke.
The Netflix remake of the 1970 film (directed by William Friedkin) has some interesting additions in terms of flashbacks and male nudity that 2020 sensibilities will allow, but it can't fully match or surpass the original movie (nor, I suspect did the 2018 stage revival match the 1968 broadway production) for one simple reason. Jim Parsons. This is the second time now that the Big Bang Theory actor has been cast in a "villainous" **** role and the second time (IMHO) that he has been badly miscast. His role as the very powerful, but unscrupulous and lecherous Hollywood agent Henry Wilson in the Netflix mini series Hollywood, created by Ryan Murphy (also a producer on this project) was simply unbelievable, as is his turn here as Michael. Kenneth Nelson as the original Michael in both the 1968 and 1970 productions of Boys in the Band was filled with menace, and palpable danger, especially when he goes off the wagon and starts sopping up the booze. The transformation is stunning and tangible as required by the characters arc in behavior. In one scene Nelson needs to go from a man totally under control and in charge of his mannerisms to a psychotic, unhinged beast out of control with anger and built up resentments which he spews onto his party guests. Parsons is a very good actor. He delivers his lines correctly and hits his marks on cue ... but his performance is pretty one note here, and it's incredibly disappointing given the strength of the other performances from the rest of the cast. That transformation noted in Nelsons performance never materializes fully in Parsons and comes off more like a petulant brat stomping his foot during a temper tantrum. It's a problem because for all intents and purposes, Michael (Parsons) and Harold (Zachary Quinto) are the two alphas in the room and they at best need to match each other in their ability to dominate the room and the other characters. Quinto does an excellent job and brings the character of Harold to life. Like Leonard Frey in the 1970 film, he alone is able to stand up to Michael's **** and leave us thinking that Michael had best tread lightly around him. Frey was a brilliant actor taken from us far too soon by AIDS and his performance as Harold stands out as one of the iconic roles for any actor, and certainly for **** actors, full of complex emotions and nuance. Pasrons' performance falls short and it has an unfortunate effect on the overall impact of the film.
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Everything about this film was garishly awful. Merely taking the exact same beats and staging from the play and putting it on screen was tacky and uninspired. The number of unnecessary monologues given to each character and the **** of **** trauma made this a nauseating watch.
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Why? Embarrassing. A complete insult to the great 1970 original movie version of this groundbreaking 1968 Broadway play. Milquetoast compared to the original.
It's basically the Boys In The Band w **** instead of the balls the original version had. "Ryan Murphy’s showy touch, which tends to curdle when overdrawn".
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