Review of The Boys in the Band (1970) by Lee M — 20 Nov 2008
This flick is insanely melodramatic and over the top. Eight gay friends gather for a birthday party and the host insists that they play a really fucked up game where they call people in their past that they love and tell them that.
Things start off light enough but the dialogue isn't really conversation it's just zinger on top of witticism on top of innuendo, until you have no idea what they're even talking about. But this is preferable to the over-dramatic darker second half.
The host Michael becomes so mean and bitter you wonder why anyone stays at this sad excuse for a party. The plot and psychology of the characters is so poorly explained that Michael's anger and anguish is so unfounded and you don't really care about what's happening.
Director William Friedkin (The Exorcist, Cruising) does some inventive camera-work and does what he can to turn this stagebound material into a film, but this is the only positive about the film.
This review of The Boys in the Band (1970) was written by Lee M on 20 Nov 2008.
The Boys in the Band has generally received positive reviews.
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