Rating: 
Summary: Longtime Companion - One Of My Favorite Films!
Review: "Longtime Companion" is one of my desert island movies! It is a beautiful blend of informative, realistic, heartbreaking, hilarious and deeply moving. Craig Lucas has painted a vivid, realistic portrait of the ascent of AIDS awareness - in both the gay and straight communities - while drawing you in to the lives of a circle of friends who you will come to love as your own, with brilliant performances from Bruce Davison, Mary Louise Parker, Dermot Mulroney, and the list goes on. This film is both important, for its message, and beautiful, for its sensitive handling of the complex issues surrounding AIDS and friendship. Buy it - you will be glad you did!
Rating:
Summary: Longtime Companion - One Of My Favorite Films!
Review: "Longtime Companion" is one of my desert island movies! It is a beautiful blend of informative, realistic, heartbreaking, hilarious and deeply moving. Craig Lucas has painted a vivid, realistic portrait of the ascent of AIDS awareness - in both the gay and straight communities - while drawing you in to the lives of a circle of friends who you will come to love as your own, with brilliant performances from Bruce Davison, Mary Louise Parker, Dermot Mulroney, and the list goes on. This film is both important, for its message, and beautiful, for its sensitive handling of the complex issues surrounding AIDS and friendship. Buy it - you will be glad you did!
Rating: 
Summary: The Plague Continues, and so does this Film
Review: A wise and satisfying drama, "Longtime Companion" was one of the first mainstream films to deal with the issue of AIDS and its devastating impact on the lives of gay men in the US. Bruce Davison shines in an Oscar-nominated performance and the rest of the cast is equally grand. But the disease itself is the main attraction here, both as a metaphor for all thats been lost and as a dramatic plot device for all the remains to do in the battle against it. Perhaps no other film - before or since - has captured the paradox of living with AIDS and dying FROM AIDS - two distinct life and worldviews that anyone with HIV, Cancer or other life-threatening ailments must confront on their own terms, day in and day out. ...A landmark achievement that won't soon be forgotten by anyone who has confronted a life-threatening illness of any kind, or those who love someone who has.
Rating:
Summary: Groundbreaking movie about AIDS
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Moving, beautiful and still relevent
Review: As good as I remember from the cinema, and now on DVD. A still relevent and very poignant film which touches so many cords. The cast are superb, the script deft, witty and emotional by turns. This is a wonderful movie that tells personal stories amid a greater tragedy and I wholeheartedly recommend it.
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Summary: Truly great film! The "Dark Victory" of gay films!
Review: Bette Davis may still be making gay men weep when she dies in Dark Victory, but this does the same thing only with the "gay man" in the lead. The acting in this film is superb (Bruce Davidson was nominated for an Oscar). The script is excellent. The story, sadly, is all too memorable, historical, believable, and true to life. This is a film that makes you laugh, makes you cry, and then stomps on your heart for good measure. I was just coming out when the first whispered rumors of GRID first hit the streets. I was in Atlanta and the word came from NY. We knew it could never reach us. How wrong we were! This film takes me back to those first carefree days of my "out" life and then walks me back through an accurate account of my life thereafter historically. I am fortunate. I never got HIV or AIDS, but I lost many many friends who did. Every time I watch this film, the last scene makes me bawl my eyes out, remembering the wonderful friends I've lost to this horrible disease. Watch this film and take it to heart that there is something to fear in having unprotected sex! Mandatory for young gay men and recommended for parents of the same, so they can support their gay sons.
Rating:
Summary: Truly great film! The "Dark Victory" of gay films!
Review: Bette Davis may still be making gay men weep when she dies in Dark Victory, but this does the same thing only with the "gay man" in the lead. The acting in this film is superb (Bruce Davidson was nominated for an Oscar). The script is excellent. The story, sadly, is all too memorable, historical, believable, and true to life. This is a film that makes you laugh, makes you cry, and then stomps on your heart for good measure. I was just coming out when the first whispered rumors of GRID first hit the streets. I was in Atlanta and the word came from NY. We knew it could never reach us. How wrong we were! This film takes me back to those first carefree days of my "out" life and then walks me back through an accurate account of my life thereafter historically. I am fortunate. I never got HIV or AIDS, but I lost many many friends who did. Every time I watch this film, the last scene makes me bawl my eyes out, remembering the wonderful friends I've lost to this horrible disease. Watch this film and take it to heart that there is something to fear in having unprotected sex! Mandatory for young gay men and recommended for parents of the same, so they can support their gay sons.
Rating: 
Summary: The feel bad movie of the century
Review: Don't watch this movie if you're in a good mood because it will drag you right down into the depression that exists in this movie. It starts out great. People are happy, making jokes, enjoying life. Then all the sudden a guy gets AIDS. Then another guy gets AIDS. Then another and so on. They all die. Pretty much the entire cast dies. I could understand this if the movie was like "Queer As Folk" and had guys going to bars and taking home different men nightly. But these guys seemed intelligent, responsible men and you never see any of them sleeping around. So how do they get AIDS??? At a certain point in the movie you're just asking yourself "Ok, who is gonna die next?" I'd give this movie 1 star if it wasn't for the fine acting the cast gives out even though they didn't have much to work with.
Rating: 
Summary: A Powerful film that could have been better...
Review: I agree completely with the Boston Phoenix, "That this film got made at all is a cause for celebration."This starts out in the early 80's when there was a wave of terror known as the "gay cancer." The film follows all through the 80's, as it concentrates on a circle of homosexual friends.Little by little they die off, and the surviving members have a harsh reality to deal with around them. This movie is so brutally honest that it's hard to sit through at times.The most touching part of the film is at the end when two lovers that survived the decade along with their female friend stroll on the beach talking. One man says, " I just want to be around when they find a cure." Then all the people who died from the disease all come together on the beach, hugging and smiling. Then we realize that it was just a dream as it pops back into the future with the three of them still standing on the beach, silent and sad. Again, the young man says, "I just want to be around when they find a cure."Straight or gay, you have to watch this. Talk about a wake-up call.
Rating:
Summary: Touching, and honest
Review: I agree completely with the Boston Phoenix, "That this film got made at all is a cause for celebration."This starts out in the early 80's when there was a wave of terror known as the "gay cancer." The film follows all through the 80's, as it concentrates on a circle of homosexual friends.Little by little they die off, and the surviving members have a harsh reality to deal with around them. This movie is so brutally honest that it's hard to sit through at times.The most touching part of the film is at the end when two lovers that survived the decade along with their female friend stroll on the beach talking. One man says, " I just want to be around when they find a cure." Then all the people who died from the disease all come together on the beach, hugging and smiling. Then we realize that it was just a dream as it pops back into the future with the three of them still standing on the beach, silent and sad. Again, the young man says, "I just want to be around when they find a cure."Straight or gay, you have to watch this. Talk about a wake-up call.
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