Boyfriends (1996)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Directors:

Tom Hunsinger
Neil Hunter

Writers:

Tom Hunsinger (writer)
Neil Hunter (writer)

Release Date:

14 February 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Paul, Matt, and Will (in their 30s) have been friends for years. They converge at the seaside for the weekend...

Plot Keywords:

Homosexual | Gay Interest | Independent Film

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

James Dreyfus	...	Paul (as James Dreyfuss)
Mark Sands	...	Ben
Andrew Ableson	...	Owen
Michael Urwin	...	Matt
David Coffey	...	Will
Darren Petrucci	...	Adam
Michael McGrath	...	James
Russell Higgs	...	Mark

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Essex Features

Soundtrack:

I Wish I Knew the Name (of the Boy in My Dreams)

Boyfriends and Boy Friends

Co-writers/directors Tom Hunsinger and Neil Hunter conjured this little Indie film in 1996, an examination of relationships among seven gay men that not only impresses as a non-exploitive, honest sociologic study of life in the 90s in England, it also is a film that is a healthy mix of humor and tenderness that stands up well more than ten years later.

Three couples of varying endurance gather for a weekend holiday to celebrate a birthday: Paul (James Dreyfus, remembered as Hugh Grant's ditsy travel book shop worker in NOTTING HILL) has been with Ben (Mark Sands) for five years but their relationship is rocky because of Paul's wandering eye for a lad he met at the funeral of his brother Mark; Matt (Michael Urwin) is celebrating his three month steady relationship with Owen (Andrew Abelson) though Owen already has the itch to move on; Will (David Coffey) brings his latest one-night stand twinkie Adam (Darren Petrucci), knowing that his chances of retaining the youth's interest are less than favorable. Into the mix comes James (Michael McGrath), the ex-lover of the recently departed Mark whose arrival and introduction to the group occurs in the form of a tryst in the woods with Owen.

Each of the paired men face confrontations and face honesty about their pasts - recent and distant - and it is through the weekend of bed swapping that each man finds his own real needs. And the results vary from happy reunions to factual realities of choices made.

The cast is a mixture of seasoned professional actors and newcomers who have not made subsequent films. There is a ring of honesty in the portrayals and the creators have opted to study compatibilities based on personality traits and needs as opposed to filling the story with the requisite soap opera subplots that tend to dampen the effect of these studies of groups and their lives. It is not a great film, but is an honest little quiet movie with particularly good performances from James Dreyfus and Andrew Abelson. Worth watching, even in 2007! Grady Harp