The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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Boys on the Side
Comedy · Drama · 1995
After breaking up with her girlfriend, a nightclub singer, Jane, answers a personal ad from Robin, a real estate agent with AIDS, seeking a cross-country travel partner. On their journey from New York City to Los Angeles, the two stop by Pittsburgh to pick up Jane's friend Holly, who is trying to escape an abusive relationship. With three distinct personalities, the women must overcome their differences to help one another.
Movie details
Boys on the Side
“A motion picture that celebrates the art of survival, the gift of laughter and the miracle of friendship.”
1995 Comedy · Drama 1h 55m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.4 / 10
Community rating
After breaking up with her girlfriend, a nightclub singer, Jane, answers a personal ad from Robin, a real estate agent with AIDS, seeking a cross-country travel partner. On their journey from New York City to Los Angeles, the two stop by Pittsburgh to pick up Jane's friend Holly, who is trying to escape an abusive relationship. With three distinct personalities, the women must overcome their differences to help one another.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Boys on the Side?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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House of D
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Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
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Husbands
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A common friend's sudden death brings three men, married with children, to reconsider their lives and ultimately leave the country together. But mindless enthusiasm for regained freedom will be short-lived.
Demolition
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An emotionally desperate investment banker finds hope through a woman he meets.
The Road Within
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A young man with Tourette's Syndrome embarks on a road trip with his recently-deceased mother's ashes.
Parting Glances
Comedy · 1986
Michael and Robert, two gay men living in Brooklyn, spend their last day together before Robert leaves for Africa on work assignment. Michael still has feelings for his friend Nick, who has AIDS.
It's My Party
Drama · 1996
Nick, a gay, HIV-positive architect, begins to display severe symptoms of AIDS and makes preparations to kill himself before he is unable to function normally. He arranges a party to reconnect and say goodbye to his closest friends and his confused parents. But when his ex-partner, Brandon, a television director who left Nick when he was diagnosed with HIV, shows up, what was supposed to be a celebratory event becomes much more difficult for everyone.
Scarecrow
Drama · 1973
Two drifters bum around, visit earthy women and discuss opening a car wash in Pittsburgh.
Transamerica
Drama · 2005
A transgender woman takes an unexpected journey when she learns that she had a son, now a teenage runaway hustling on the streets of New York.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Herbert Ross
Written by
Don Roos
Whoopi Goldberg
Jane Deluca
Mary-Louise Parker
Robin
Drew Barrymore
Holly Pulchik-Lincoln
Matthew McConaughey
Abe Lincoln
James Remar
Alex
Billy Wirth
Nick
Anita Gillette
Elaine
Court is in session
Put Boys on the Side on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.