The Rectangular View

Like the original 1970 version of The Boys in the Band, the 2020 Netflix remake is based on the 1968 play by Mart Crowley. The Boys in the Band (2020), which was made for Netflix, cuts some of the dialog from the original play and adds a small amount of new dialog. I will say the remake does keep the majority of the script, so the difference between the two is small, as far as the script is concerned. However, the two film versions are very different indeed.

I am not going to compare the 2020 remake to the original 1970 version, so feel free to read my post on the original 1970 version here: Movie Review: The Boys in the Band (1970).

The Boys in the Band is the story of a group of gay men living in New York City at a time when being gay was not accepted by society and living in the closet was the norm, which makes this a period piece set in 1968. It shows the devastating psychological effects of living in the closet and is meant to be a difficult film to watch.

The story centers on a birthday party that Michael (Jim Parsons) is giving for Harold (Zachary Quinto). Just before the guests are due to arrive, Michael gets a phone call from an old college friend, Alan McCarthy (Brian Hutchison), saying that he’s in town and needs to talk. Alan is in tears and sounds desperate, so Michael agrees, explaining that he’s having company and doesn’t have much time. As the guests arrive, Michael explains that Alan MaCarthy is coming by for a quick chat and that he doesn’t know that Michael is gay, so they’ll need to “butch it up” until Alan leaves.

Then Alan calls again, apologizing for being such a mess when they last spoke, that he’s better now, and asks if they can meet up tomorrow. Michael thinks he’s in the clear, tells his guests the good news and the party gets going, with laughter, dancing, and flirting. And then the doorbell rings and Hank, the closeted gay man, answers it to find Alan on the other side. Hank invites Alan in and the laughter and dancing immediately stop, leaving Michael to awkwardly explain away what Alan saw them doing. And so the drama begins.

To put on a successful version of The Boys in the Band you need a cast that fully understands their characters and a director who understands the story. This version has neither. It feels like a step above a high school production. While I expect an actor to bring his or her own nuances to any role, I feel the cast needed to live with their characters a bit longer for that to happen. A little help from the director, Joe Mantello, would have helped. Most of the time the movie feels like a cold reading, with actors waiting to deliver their lines.

I do believe all the actors tried their best, but I don’t think they had a lot of inspiration to draw from because these characters aren’t as commonplace today as they were in 1970. I wish the director had found a way to help them get there, but for some reason that didn’t seem to happen. Of the lackluster performances, I think Tuc Watkins as Hank, Robin de Jesus as Emory, and Zachary Quinto as Harold could have really brought it home if they’d had more time for character study.

Another major problem with this remake is the timing. There are too many long pauses that make it feel like the actors are waiting for their lines. When Larry, played by Andrew Rannells, enters the party with his boyfriend, Hank, he’s introduced to Donald, played by Matt Bomer, and the two men exchange what is supposed to be a briefly awkward greeting. What we get is a prolonged glance that makes it far too obvious that they’ve met before. With proper direction and some acting classes, Rannells and Bomer could have pulled it off.

Also, as the story moves from party to nightmare, it’s supposed to feel frantic and chaotic, but it never does because of the slow pacing caused by the empty spaces between lines. And even Harold’s lines, which are supposed to be deliberate and paced, are drawn out with unnecessarily long pauses. In fact, the monotonous pacing of Harold’s lines very often strips them of their humor and punch. For instance, Quinto’s delivery of Harold’s final pronouncement to Michael takes so long that it becomes tedious.

Even the unexpected rainstorm that causes the party to move inside feels uneventful. What is supposed to be a massive deluge of water that destroys everything on the outside deck feels like a light shower. There is no smashing of bottles, a cake being shot with driving rain, people frantically trying to salvage anything they can before sheltering inside. It simply starts to rain, the guests look around and then run inside. It’s all very ho hum.

Michael’s emotional breakdown and desperate plea to Donald at the end feels forced and contrived. Parsons can’t quite pull out all the stops to give us the depth of emotion needed for dramatic effect. And once Michael gets himself together, he decides to attend a church service. He pauses in the doorway and says to Donald, “As my father said to me as he died in my arms, ‘I don’t understand any of it. I never did.’ Turn out the lights when you leave.” And with that line, the movie should end, leaving the audience to think about what they just saw. But for some reason Joe Mantello made the choice to show all the characters and what they’re doing post party, taking away any emotional punch that final line would have had. It’s a shame.

If you want to see a good version of The Boys in the Band, see the 1970 version. You can rent it on Amazon Prime. Read my review of the 1970 version here: Movie Review: The Boys in the Band (1970).