The first major theatrical film on the subject of AIDS, this is a superb and moving exploration of the devastating effects of the pandemic on a close-knit group of gay men. The film spans the first turbulent decade of the AIDS crisis when it went from being a little known, poorly understood disease to one which permanently changed the way that people all over the world thought about sex. Consisting of nine sections covering the period 1981 to 1989, it is wonderfully written by Craig Lucas and directed by Norman René. Tragically, René was diagnosed with HIV shortly before filming began but kept his condition to himself as he knew that he would never be insured otherwise. He died of AIDS in 1996.
The film begins on July 3, 1981, the day that an ominous article was published in The New York Times: "Rare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals." This was the first time that what would later be called AIDS received any attention in a mainstream newspaper. The article, printed on page 20, draws varying reactions from members of the New York gay community. David Elders, played by Bruce Davison, is a little concerned but his longtime boyfriend Sean, played by Mark Lamos, is entirely dismissive of it. He jokes that the story was probably invented by the CIA to discourage gay men from having sex. Their friend Willy Wolfe, played by Campbell Scott, thinks that it is most likely caused by taking poppers. Considering that he doesn't do drugs, it doesn't particularly worry him.
Played by Stephen Caffrey and Mary-Louise Parker, Alan (universally known as Fuzzy due to his beard) and his lifelong friend Lisa, the film's only major female and straight character, are disturbed by the findings. However, they never imagine the impact that it will have on either the gay community or society at large. None of the group let it throw a dampener on the 4th of July party at Sean and David's beach house on Fire Island.
This crucial opening sequence succeeds on every level. It does an excellent job at introducing the various characters and their relationships (both romantic and platonic). Above all, it gives the audience a taste of the gay community's pre-AIDS days. Furthermore, there is a major sense of foreboding as the shadow of AIDS has fallen on the group for the first time, albeit in an indirect fashion. In many respects, the party represents one last blast before the pandemic devastates their lives.
In April 1982, Willy's best friend John Deacon, played very well by Dermot Mulroney, is admitted to hospital with pneumonia. He had shut himself off from his friends for weeks and hid his condition as he was embarrassed and ashamed. John deteriorates quickly and dies before the term AIDS is even coined. His death has a profound effect on Willy in particular, bringing the disease (then called GRID) home to him in the way that he had never expected.
Howard Palin, played well by Patrick Cassidy, is cast in the soap opera "Other People" on that fateful day in 1981. Sean is one of its writers. After a year on the soap, his character Mark becomes the first openly gay character on daytime TV. Howard is bothered by this development, not because he is concerned about being outed but because he fears that he will be typecast and will never work again. Similarly, in 1983, Sean isn't terribly enthusiastic about writing the first gay kiss scene on daytime TV as he believes that he was told to write it because he is the only gay writer on staff. That night, Sean has far more serious concerns as he discovers a mole that he has never seen before on his neck. David attempts to reassure him that he has always had it and that neither of them could have AIDS since they haven't slept with anyone else for years.
By September 1984, Sean's concerns prove to be justified as he has been hospitalised. By the following March, his condition has deteriorated to the point that he has dementia and may lose his sight. David, who is independently wealthy, devotes all of his time to caring for Sean. He helps with writing the scripts for "Other People" and hides the extent of his condition from the network. In his only film appearance, Mark Lamos gives a wonderful performance as Sean. It is heartbreaking to see this once vibrant, witty, warm man having lost control of his faculties to the point that he urinates in public and doesn't even realise that he's doing it.
By January 1986, Sean is in a state of near catatonia and the pain is unbearable. He says "Let go, let go" over and over again. In the most moving scene in the film, which is beautifully written, performed and directed, David sits with him and holds his hand, telling him that he can let go. He dies soon afterwards. Bruce Davison is fantastic in this scene, giving the best performance in the entire film. It very deservedly earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor but I think that Lamos deserved one too. David himself dies in May 1987, his own symptoms only manifesting after Sean's death. This is an excellent twist as it shows how unfair and capricious life can be sometimes.
Howard and his boyfriend Paul, played well by John Dossett, are on the periphery of the main group but still receive a great deal of screen time. In 1984, Paul is hospitalised with toxoplasmosis. He is devastated but finds himself comforting Howard as opposed to the other way round. Several months later, Paul has suffered several seizures and must answer questions to ensure that he is compos mentis. However, he maintains a brave front by making jokes, refusing to feel sorry for himself. By this time, Howard's career is suffering. In a horrible, though unintentional, parallel to René's situation in real life, he was fired from a film as the studio did not want to insure him because of rumours that he has AIDS. By September 1988, Howard has actually been diagnosed with it and hosts a Living with AIDS gala to raise money for people in his situation. He does this not only to fight the disease but to show that people with AIDS are not victims. It is implied that Paul has died by then and that Howard was inspired by his boyfriend's strength.
Willy and Fuzzy, who began a relationship after the party in 1981, are both very disturbed by how many of their friends and acquaintances are dying of AIDS and become increasingly paranoid. These feelings are excellently communicated by Scott and Caffrey in their performances. When Sean gave him a kiss on the cheek after being hospitalised in 1984, Willy immediately went to the bathroom and spent several minutes scrubbing it off. This very effective moment is the only time that the film directly addresses the many myths about AIDS and how it spread that existed in the 1980s. Fuzzy regularly checks his lymph nodes to see if they are swollen. They are so terrified of AIDS that they eventually agree to keep their relationship celibate. Although Fuzzy is initially very dismissive of Lisa's suggestion to volunteer at the Gay Men's Health Crisis, the two of them and Willy come to devote much of their time to it.
In the final scene set in July 1989, Willy, Fuzzy and Lisa try to imagine what it would be like if a cure for AIDS was discovered with Lisa commenting that he would be like the end of World War II. This is then followed by a very moving fantasy sequence in which they imagine everyone that they knew who has died of AIDS being alive, including John, Sean and David. This is a beautiful sequence which shows how the world could have been if AIDS had never existed. The very appropriate song "Post-Mortem Bar" by Zane Campbell plays in the background. As suddenly as it began, the fantasy ends and the surviving trio are brought back to the harsh and unpleasant reality of their situation.
The film also features Tony Shalhoub and Dan Butler in early roles as Paul's doctor and the film executive Walter respectively. Michael Carmine, who plays the AIDS patient Alberto, died of the disease in real life shortly after the film was released. Michael Schoeffling and Brian Cousins play Michael and Bob, the two most peripheral members of the group who don't really contribute much to the film.
In the three decades since the film was made, AIDS has gone from an invariably fatal disease to a chronic one. Two people have been cured of HIV. While an AIDS cure is not imminent, it is becoming increasingly likely, which even the most optimistic doctors could not have predicted in 1989. If anything, this makes the events of the film - and the millions of deaths that have occurred in the real world - all the more tragic.
Overall, this is an excellent, deeply moving depiction of the impact of AIDS on the American gay community. It shows that terrible pain and suffering can often bring out the best in people, something of which the onset of COVID-19 has reminded us. I would highly recommend that anyone who enjoyed the film should watch the miniseries "It's a Sin", which tells a similar story from the perspective of the British gay community of the 1980s and early 1990s.
The film begins on July 3, 1981, the day that an ominous article was published in The New York Times: "Rare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals." This was the first time that what would later be called AIDS received any attention in a mainstream newspaper. The article, printed on page 20, draws varying reactions from members of the New York gay community. David Elders, played by Bruce Davison, is a little concerned but his longtime boyfriend Sean, played by Mark Lamos, is entirely dismissive of it. He jokes that the story was probably invented by the CIA to discourage gay men from having sex. Their friend Willy Wolfe, played by Campbell Scott, thinks that it is most likely caused by taking poppers. Considering that he doesn't do drugs, it doesn't particularly worry him.
Played by Stephen Caffrey and Mary-Louise Parker, Alan (universally known as Fuzzy due to his beard) and his lifelong friend Lisa, the film's only major female and straight character, are disturbed by the findings. However, they never imagine the impact that it will have on either the gay community or society at large. None of the group let it throw a dampener on the 4th of July party at Sean and David's beach house on Fire Island.
This crucial opening sequence succeeds on every level. It does an excellent job at introducing the various characters and their relationships (both romantic and platonic). Above all, it gives the audience a taste of the gay community's pre-AIDS days. Furthermore, there is a major sense of foreboding as the shadow of AIDS has fallen on the group for the first time, albeit in an indirect fashion. In many respects, the party represents one last blast before the pandemic devastates their lives.
In April 1982, Willy's best friend John Deacon, played very well by Dermot Mulroney, is admitted to hospital with pneumonia. He had shut himself off from his friends for weeks and hid his condition as he was embarrassed and ashamed. John deteriorates quickly and dies before the term AIDS is even coined. His death has a profound effect on Willy in particular, bringing the disease (then called GRID) home to him in the way that he had never expected.
Howard Palin, played well by Patrick Cassidy, is cast in the soap opera "Other People" on that fateful day in 1981. Sean is one of its writers. After a year on the soap, his character Mark becomes the first openly gay character on daytime TV. Howard is bothered by this development, not because he is concerned about being outed but because he fears that he will be typecast and will never work again. Similarly, in 1983, Sean isn't terribly enthusiastic about writing the first gay kiss scene on daytime TV as he believes that he was told to write it because he is the only gay writer on staff. That night, Sean has far more serious concerns as he discovers a mole that he has never seen before on his neck. David attempts to reassure him that he has always had it and that neither of them could have AIDS since they haven't slept with anyone else for years.
By September 1984, Sean's concerns prove to be justified as he has been hospitalised. By the following March, his condition has deteriorated to the point that he has dementia and may lose his sight. David, who is independently wealthy, devotes all of his time to caring for Sean. He helps with writing the scripts for "Other People" and hides the extent of his condition from the network. In his only film appearance, Mark Lamos gives a wonderful performance as Sean. It is heartbreaking to see this once vibrant, witty, warm man having lost control of his faculties to the point that he urinates in public and doesn't even realise that he's doing it.
By January 1986, Sean is in a state of near catatonia and the pain is unbearable. He says "Let go, let go" over and over again. In the most moving scene in the film, which is beautifully written, performed and directed, David sits with him and holds his hand, telling him that he can let go. He dies soon afterwards. Bruce Davison is fantastic in this scene, giving the best performance in the entire film. It very deservedly earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor but I think that Lamos deserved one too. David himself dies in May 1987, his own symptoms only manifesting after Sean's death. This is an excellent twist as it shows how unfair and capricious life can be sometimes.
Howard and his boyfriend Paul, played well by John Dossett, are on the periphery of the main group but still receive a great deal of screen time. In 1984, Paul is hospitalised with toxoplasmosis. He is devastated but finds himself comforting Howard as opposed to the other way round. Several months later, Paul has suffered several seizures and must answer questions to ensure that he is compos mentis. However, he maintains a brave front by making jokes, refusing to feel sorry for himself. By this time, Howard's career is suffering. In a horrible, though unintentional, parallel to René's situation in real life, he was fired from a film as the studio did not want to insure him because of rumours that he has AIDS. By September 1988, Howard has actually been diagnosed with it and hosts a Living with AIDS gala to raise money for people in his situation. He does this not only to fight the disease but to show that people with AIDS are not victims. It is implied that Paul has died by then and that Howard was inspired by his boyfriend's strength.
Willy and Fuzzy, who began a relationship after the party in 1981, are both very disturbed by how many of their friends and acquaintances are dying of AIDS and become increasingly paranoid. These feelings are excellently communicated by Scott and Caffrey in their performances. When Sean gave him a kiss on the cheek after being hospitalised in 1984, Willy immediately went to the bathroom and spent several minutes scrubbing it off. This very effective moment is the only time that the film directly addresses the many myths about AIDS and how it spread that existed in the 1980s. Fuzzy regularly checks his lymph nodes to see if they are swollen. They are so terrified of AIDS that they eventually agree to keep their relationship celibate. Although Fuzzy is initially very dismissive of Lisa's suggestion to volunteer at the Gay Men's Health Crisis, the two of them and Willy come to devote much of their time to it.
In the final scene set in July 1989, Willy, Fuzzy and Lisa try to imagine what it would be like if a cure for AIDS was discovered with Lisa commenting that he would be like the end of World War II. This is then followed by a very moving fantasy sequence in which they imagine everyone that they knew who has died of AIDS being alive, including John, Sean and David. This is a beautiful sequence which shows how the world could have been if AIDS had never existed. The very appropriate song "Post-Mortem Bar" by Zane Campbell plays in the background. As suddenly as it began, the fantasy ends and the surviving trio are brought back to the harsh and unpleasant reality of their situation.
The film also features Tony Shalhoub and Dan Butler in early roles as Paul's doctor and the film executive Walter respectively. Michael Carmine, who plays the AIDS patient Alberto, died of the disease in real life shortly after the film was released. Michael Schoeffling and Brian Cousins play Michael and Bob, the two most peripheral members of the group who don't really contribute much to the film.
In the three decades since the film was made, AIDS has gone from an invariably fatal disease to a chronic one. Two people have been cured of HIV. While an AIDS cure is not imminent, it is becoming increasingly likely, which even the most optimistic doctors could not have predicted in 1989. If anything, this makes the events of the film - and the millions of deaths that have occurred in the real world - all the more tragic.
Overall, this is an excellent, deeply moving depiction of the impact of AIDS on the American gay community. It shows that terrible pain and suffering can often bring out the best in people, something of which the onset of COVID-19 has reminded us. I would highly recommend that anyone who enjoyed the film should watch the miniseries "It's a Sin", which tells a similar story from the perspective of the British gay community of the 1980s and early 1990s.