Watched, at the suggestion of Scott Nelson, Norman Renés LONGTIME COMPANION (1989), said to be the first film primarily about AIDS. It follows a group of white middle-class gay men (and one female friend of theirs) in NYC through the 1980s, as they encounter the initially mysterious gay cancer, which becomes progressively more terrifying as more about it is learned. They are an amiable bunch--the film has no villains except the virus--and the ensemble approach is in some ways interesting. But the main problem that an ensemble cast can present does crop up: The characters are not always clearly individuated, and it becomes difficult, at times, to tell them apart--and, worse, difficult, therefore, to care about them as much as we are clearly meant to. Still, its a pretty good movie, and surely superior to Jonathan Demmes PHILADELPHIA (1993), if only on the principle that any film is better for not having Tom Hanks in it.
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 18:35:49 +0000
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