Longtime Companion
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Movie Reviews of Longtime Companion
Movie Review: A Brilliant Crier Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
Recently I learned that a friend of mine had become HIV+. So I decided to rent this movie I'd had been looking at for a long time but thought it might be too depressing for casual viewing. But I decided to see it anyway. Purely as a film it's greatly better than I expected,that is in terms of acting and plot construction. I was born in 1980 so some of the earlier years depicted in this film don't come to my memory. The general story is based in New York where a group of gay people,from different backrounds and walks of life who are forced to contend with AIDS,even before it had an official name. The story spans the entire decade of the 80's;from 1981 to 89 and different segments of the movie take place during a different year in the decade. It all starts out when the friends are rather casually discussing an newspaper article about a mysterious "gay cancer". It's really interesting to see the historical context from where these men are all summering at Fire Island and taking the whole situation very casually to something very different. At first it's taken for granted as being a disease effecting heavy drug users or those with a huge amount of sexual partners. That is,until one of these friends fall ill. Over the course of the film these men,one by one become sick and die. Some of them have become romantically involved and their intertwining stories play out all the tensions,dilemas,fear and misinformation that was a huge part of the early years of the AIDS epidemic. From this fact alone you can easily see how sad this film could be. But it's deeper than just the depressing subject of AIDS. Over the course of the film you really begin to like a number of the characters,whose own personel concerns give way to a great sense of sympathy,concern and kindness. And even for them you have to watch them all succomb to AIDS.In the end only two of them and their female friend whose been by their side since the very beginning have survived. The metaphorical scene in the end,which is too important to me for a spoiler is really the part the effected me most emotionally. Personally I found the movie more upsetting at first,since so much of the film strongly emphasizes the feeling of hysteria regarding AIDS before there was a lot of knowledge about the disease. Some of the knowledge in the early days in fact was totally based on hysteria in fact. Another sad fact about this is you really see how AIDS was effecting gay people just at the same time they were beginning to gain acceptance in a society that had long cruelly condemn them. After all,we all remember how both situations intertwined in real life with Rock Hudson. This is actually an excellent slice of life story for those interested in this particular subject matter,whether or gay or not. I would recommend that the sensative and highly bummed out might want to avoid this. But that doesn't take away from how important this movie was and still is even today.Movie Review: Brilliantly recreates the onset of AIDS....
Summary: 5 Stars
It is always a concern with me when viewing movies based around the 'AIDS crisis' that many seem to go overboard with the fake sentiments and they basically end up being nothing more than a 'movie of the week'. Luckily for me, Longtime Companion turned out to be a quality movie that deals with the subject matter in a sensitive and realisitic manner.We first encounter the characters in Longtime Companion during the 'gay heyday' of the early 80's. Fun was seemingly had by all, and the acceptance of gay men was at an all time high. Then we see news filtering out through the newspapers about a 'gay cancer'.The rest of the plot is obvious - the 'crisis' gets worse and people die.
Longtime Companion seemingly recreates those first few years in accurate detail, which is of particular interest to those of us who were too young to experience it. But one theme that this movie really hons in on is the uncertainty of that time and the fear resulting from that uncertainty. No one really knew where all this was heading- so called experts constantly giving false claims as to what was causing the 'gay cancer' certainly didn't help. We take it for granted that at the time of writing this, a huge amount of information is readily available to us concerning HIV and AIDS. Gay men in the early 80's were not that lucky and had to experience the onset of AIDS, with not only the health and mortality concerns, but also the associated negative stigma. This is what Longtime Companion deals with in a wonderfully sensitive and emotive way. Once you see the final scene - a truely emotive experience, you will realise how wonderful this movie really is.
The performance of the cast is simply breathtaking. There are no stereotypical characterisations of the gay man - the characters have been well flushed out and we get an eclectic, three dimensional group of gay men.
The DVD itself has the movie with excellent picture quality, a trailer and nothing else. It is a shame that no extras were included - even static screens of texts with additional information would have been welcome. But we have such a wonderful movie available to us on our favourite media, and that is something to be thankful for.
Longtime Companion is a sad movie, but one that is very important in the history of homosexuality. You will feel sad and need a box of tissues handy, but you will also get to see how these brave men came face to face with something that would turn out to be so devastating to our community. The gay men of the AIDS era as is depicted in Longtime Companion need to be historically acknowledged and I have yet to see a movie that does this as well as Longtime Companion. A brilliant piece of film.......
Movie Review: Groundbreaking movie about AIDS
Summary: 5 Stars
As a serious attempt to dramatize the AIDS crisis by showing its impact on a small group of friends, "Longtime Companion" holds up well. The limitations evident when the movie debuted are still there: yes, the men (with the obligatory wise-cracking straight female friend) are all rich yuppies, and they're all white. They seem to exist on their own without any family members--though perhaps this is realistic; many gays and lesbians are indeed estranged from close relatives. More seriously, the omission of the latest news available then about the HIV virus and how safer sex could reduce transmission makes the health picture appear more dark than it in fact was, even in 1990.Ultimately none of this lessens the emotional impact of the intertwined stories of these characters, due to a quality script and superb acting. There are scenes that overwhelm even now with their power and truth, notably that of Bruce Davison gently helping his lover Mark Lamos let go of life, and the conclusion, that slips momentarily into fantasy in a most moving way. The promiscuous gay lifestyle is given its due, but so are stable, long-term relationships. One wonders why the careers of actors such as Campbell Scott and Dermot Mulroney have not taken off further than they have--hopefully it's not because they had the artistic courage to portray open, fully-rounded and attractive gay men.
"Longtime Companion" still stands out as a carefully produced, well-written and non-judgmental portrayal of people coping with one of the darkest periods of modern American history.
Movie Review: All Too Familiar
Summary: 5 Stars
They were young, they were handsome, they had interesting occupations, they were gay in New York. They have everything going for them. Then one by one they started reading in the local newspapers about a strange cancer that seemed to be attacking only young gay men. The rest is the horrible history of an awful disease that took out many of a whole generation of us in the 1980's and changed the rest of our lives forever.
This 1990 film is still powerful twenty years later and triggers raw emotions since what these young men experienced-- the movie begins 7/3/1981 and ends 7/19/1989-- was happening in every major city of the United States: the sudden life-threatening illnesses, the hare-brained theory that gay men were getting sick because they hated themselves-- remember Louise Hay?-- the belief that poppers were the cause of the disease, the gay community taking care of its own, the funerals conducted by friends with not a family member within 500 miles.
The movie is extremelly well made and often feels like a documentary. You will not soon forget the powerful, heart-breaking ending. Bruce Davison received a well-deserved Oscar for best supporting actor for his role in "Longtime Companion," the term that was sometimes used to name the "next of kin" in these gay families under attack by AIDS. The film ought to be required viewing for young people so that they see what life was like for young gay men in the 1980's and that they remember the importance of AIDS prevention.
Movie Review: How it was in the early 80's as AIDS appeared.
Summary: 5 Stars
I was 22 years old and partying freely with my friends on Fire Island when AIDS first appeared in a public way. The news paper articles, called it "gay cancer", and we joked at what seemed to be yet another attempt to disparage homosexual lifestyles. This movie has perfectly depicted the gay scene during that period, and absolutely captured the nature of groups of gay friends - male and female - as we lost dozens of our friends to this disease. The actors are absolutely wonderful, this movie is perfectly cast. The beauty of devotion and friendship, the ugliness of bigotry and lack of action to stop this disease are a perfect combination of the conflicts involed as AIDS began it's tragic invasion of America. As the "it can't happen to me" gave way to the fear, hysteria and blame, shining through was the indomitable spirit of the wonderful human beings who make up our gay community in unity, love, support and care. As a lesbian fully active in the gay community during the onset of AIDS, I lived this experience, it is absolutely spot on. This look back on the innocence lost of the gay community at the height of it's burgeoning acceptence into society is a landmark. This is a must own for anyone who is, or has loved and supported anyone, gay.