excalibur212 Review of And the Band Played On

And the Band Played On (1993 TV Movie)

Bad acting, bad writing, totally contrived... Doctors talking like teenagers

[2/10 · 8 January 2006]

I was really disappointed to see how badly this movie was made. Obviously it was well received because of the subject matter, not due to the quality of the film itself. I lived and worked in Atlanta and have been to the CDC, and I can assure you no Georgians talk like the characters in this movie (mostly badly cast New York actors, with people like Richard Gere and Steve Martin brought in to do cameos). But this movie is just plain badly made, even for a TV movie. All the "stand up and shout" moments are clichéd one-liners ("How many people have to die before this disease is recognized?" "Do you mean to tell me, that they knew they were giving AIDS to people, and they continued to do it?" etc). At one point the researcher is drawing on a chalkboard and checking off items as if he's explaining it to a soccer mom, when the other character (supposedly another doctor) obviously wouldn't need the dumbed-down version the writers think the audience requires. It was like watching a bad play. I wish I knew of better AIDS movies out there. This is a really bad movie.