Boys-terous

Truly timeless entertainment is rather rare, I think. More often, you look back and see the signs of age in something written years ago. In some cases, this transforms a work into a fascinating time capsule of another age. The Boys in the Band is such a case.

Mart Crowley wrote his boundary busting play about gay men in 1968 -- a year before Stonewall marked what many consider the beginning of the LGBT civil rights movement. That play was revived on Broadway in 2018 for its 50th anniversary, a production in which all nine characters were played by openly gay actors. All those actors then reprised their roles for this 2020 film.

The story is of a birthday party gone horribly wrong. When host Michael's old college friend -- who doesn't know he's gay -- shows up unexpected, where many guests refuse to be closeted, conflict is inevitable. And once things descend into chaos, Michael becomes determined to drive it to rock bottom as quickly and forcefully as possible.

It's hard to imagine exactly what the "message" of The Boys in the Band really is or was meant to be -- then or now. I don't read it as something that was ever meant to "change hearts and minds," because while the characters do run a spectrum that does show there's not just one way that gay looks, the overriding character trait of all of them is that they're assholes. The scenario of this story persists long past the point of realism, characters sticking around for seemingly no reason other than they're characters in a play who haven't yet reached the page on which they exit.

But then, maybe this is that time capsule effect. While the journey toward equality is still incomplete, it's hard to overstate just how far things have come since 1968. Casting your thoughts into that past: if you have only a few people with whom you can be yourself, maybe there's no real limit to the amount of shit you'll take from them? It makes sense that internal pressure could harden self-loathing into a toxic diamond.

That's all well and good as a signpost of progress, or as an intellectual exercise. But I didn't find it particularly entertaining. Imagine two hours of cringe comedy without really all that much comedy. A room of witty people determined to use that wit to eviscerate one another. An emotional battlefield where there are to be no survivors. That's The Boys in the Band.

If you are going to watch it, though, you will be treated to a hell of a cast. This stars Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, Charlie Carver, Robin de Jesús, Brian Hutchison, Michael Benjamin Washington, and Tuc Watkins. And because it's making no attempt to hide its origins as a stage play, almost everyone gets their "show-stopping monologue" to act their ass off. In my view, Zachary Quinto rises most to the occasion; his character of Harold remains cultivated and aloof until swooping in for a vicious verbal swipe. (But also, if all you know Jim Parsons from is The Big Bang Theory, you'll be in for quite a shock.)

I'd give The Boys in the Band a C-. I'm glad the film exists, though I'm certain I'll never watch it again. I am also truly grateful it feels as dated as it does.