The only thing I knew about "The Boys in the Band," was that it was a landmark LGBT film that had been directed by William Friendkin, pre- "The Exorcist." It was really the first major American film to delve into the lives of gay characters with any real depth. Since producer Ryan Murphy and director Joe Mantello decided to remake it for Netflix last year with an all star cast, I figured it was a good opportunity to take a look.
Based on a stage play by Mart Crowley, "The Boys in the Band" revolves around the character of Michael (Kenneth Nelson), a gay New Yorker throwing a birthday party for his friend/rival Harold (Leonard Frey). Guests from their circle of friends include the flamboyant Emory (Cliff Gorman), and a hustler named "Cowboy" (Robert La Tourneaux). Complicating matters is the appearance of Michael's straitlaced college friend Alan (Peter White) at the party, who Michael suspects is closeted. The film takes place mostly in the apartment of Michael and his boyfriend Donald (Frederick Combs).
What struck me immediately was how bleak and bitter the characters were, and how so much of the dialogue is trading venomous barbs and indulging in everyone's angst and self-hatred. It's very much in the vein of black comedies of that era like "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" and "Carnal Knowledge." I don't know that I liked the film very much - it's technically well done, and well acted, but the story is so miserable and nihilistic at times, and it's depressing to think that this was one of the only LGBT films of its era. It's a valuable snapshot of the gay community and New York's gay culture of the time, but it's also very dated in its views. This is totally understandable, of course.
I recognized none of the actors in the 1970 film, who were all members of the cast of the 1968 play, but I thought all of their performances were strong, particularly Laurence Luckinbill as the "straight-passing" Hank. Roughly half of the cast was gay, and we lost many of them to the AIDS epidemic. By contrast, the entire cast of the 2020 version is gay and out, including Jim Parsons as Michael, Zachary Quinto as Harold, Brian Hutchison as Alan, Robin de Jesús as Emory, and Charlie Carver as Cowboy. Add Andrew Rannells, Tuc Watkins, Michael Benjamin Washington, and Matt Bomer, and the talent in the cast is off the charts. And I really, really wish that they were making a different movie.
The 2020 version of the "The Boys in the Band" has been given the prestige treatment, and looks glody and expensive. It's still set in 1968 New York, and the script's still largely the same, but now the color palette is rosier, the atmosphere warmer and more nostalgic. The venom and bleakness have been reduced to bittersweetness, the barbs are now more catty and affectionate. We get more glimpses of the characters living their lives outside of the apartment, including a montage of everyone quietly collecting themselves in the aftermath of the party. The most notable addition is that flashback sequences are filmed to go along with the various stories about romantic encounters told by the characters in the second act. Much of what was implied is made more explicit, though the most important ambiguities are preserved.
And that's a perfectly fine approach, though I think it undercuts the material at times. I find the bigger problem to be the performances. Chiefly, Jim Parsons and Zachary Quinto probably should have switched roles, and not just because Parsons is a vocal dead ringer for Leonard Frey. I really have trouble buying Parsons in dramatic roles, because he can't seem to keep his comedic tics at bay. This is especially deadly for Michael's big breakdown scene at the end of the film, which is a bust. Quinto is playing the oddball Parsons should have played, and giving off entirely the wrong vibes for it. However, I like Robin de Jesús as a more down-to-earth Emory, and Michael Benjamin Washington as Bernard, their lone black friend.
Maybe it's because I'm more familiar with these actors, or maybe because I watched the 2020 version after the 1970 version, but the new adaptation just doesn't have the same verve. The characters are more lovable and well-rounded, but lose verisimilitude and impact. I suspect the biggest issue is that the 2020 actors are playing at being gay in 1968, while the original cast members were living it. There's really no comparison.
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