Rating: 
Summary: Touching, Emotional, Special, A Must See
Review: Harvey Fierstein, Anne Bancroft, Matthew Broderick and Brian Kerwin combine in a bitter-sweet comedy-drama set in the 1970's, concluding in 1980. The "Trilogy" is a collection of 3 specific pieces blended together telling the saga of Arnold Beckoff (Fierstein). The story revolves around love, relationships and family - something everyone can relate to. It was a movie before it's time when it premiered in 1988. It is straight-forward and to the point. It will make you laugh and cry and understand the true meaning of love and respect. Harvey Fierstein & Anne Bancroft (Arnold's Mother) are outstanding in their roles. A must see for anyone trying to understand the complexity of love. A well-done adaption to the screen from theatre. Add this video to your collection!
Rating:
Summary: Touching, Emotional, Special, A Must See
Review: Harvey Fierstein, Anne Bancroft, Matthew Broderick and Brian Kerwin combine in a bitter-sweet comedy-drama set in the 1970's, concluding in 1980. The "Trilogy" is a collection of 3 specific pieces blended together telling the saga of Arnold Beckoff (Fierstein). The story revolves around love, relationships and family - something everyone can relate to. It was a movie before it's time when it premiered in 1988. It is straight-forward and to the point. It will make you laugh and cry and understand the true meaning of love and respect. Harvey Fierstein & Anne Bancroft (Arnold's Mother) are outstanding in their roles. A must see for anyone trying to understand the complexity of love. A well-done adaption to the screen from theatre. Add this video to your collection!
Rating: 
Summary: Memorable, quoteable, and historical
Review: Harvey Fierstien plays an aging drag queen looking for love, companionship, and understanding from the people in his life. The movie makes a great transition from the theater to film. It is a classic that contains some of the most powerful dialoge that I have seen. The performances by Anne Bancroft are moving. Every scene where Arnold (Harvey Fierstein) confronts his mother (Anne Bancroft) will leave you quoting lines with your friends for years.
Rating:
Summary: How could you not love this movie??
Review: How could you not love this flick? It's got everything a movie needs: side-splitting comedy from the master, Harvey Fierstein; poignant drama, especially in the Kaddish scene with the character Arnold and his mother; a very enjoyable soundtrack; romance; one-liners you'll be quoting for years (I certainly have); a young, hot Matthew Broderick; and Anne Bancroft as the most convincing, most hilarious Jewish mother out there! I've watched this video at least ten times, and I'm still not sick of it.
Rating:
Summary: DVD please !!
Review: How much longer must we wait for a DVD of this wonderful film?I've just about worn out my VHS. A truly great filming of a breath-taking Stage piece.
Rating:
Summary: The great Harvey
Review: I adore this movie for its lead performances and sheer sense of life. It's a one-of-a-kind film with the most unconventional leading man ever to appear in a Hollywood feature: the unforgettable Harvey Fierstein. Not only does Fierstein dominate every scene in which he appears, but he also wrote the screenplay adaptation from his original Broadway play. The stage version of Torch Song Trilogy, as its title suggests, consists of three self-contained one-act plays. Performed together, the three plays tell the continuing story of Arnold, a Brooklyn drag queen extraordinaire. The movie follows the stage version fairly closely, but adds several new characters along the way, together with some fresh (and sparkling) dialogue in this most quotable of movies. All of the additions, in fact, improve on the original, and Ken Page and Charles Pierce in the roles of Arnold's fellow performers endow the movie with some marvellously campy moments. The movie is alternately hilarious and heartbreaking. It also manages to be thought-provoking without being preachy. Anne Bancroft is superb as Harvey Fierstein's larger than life mother, and the many confrontational moments between the two are as powerful as they are truthful. Some have complained that Bancroft's performance is too over the top in a scenery-chewing kind of way, but I loved it. Besides, as gay friends in the same situation as Fierstein's character have told me, this is exactly how their mothers reacted to THEIR homosexuality. Among the other cast members, Brian Kerwin does a fine job as Ed, the confused bisexual lover of Arnold, and Matthew Broderick is a winsome Alan, the young man who walks into Arnold's life at an unexpected moment in the movie. Broderick was no stranger to Torch Song Trilogy, having played the part of David, Arnold's adopted son, in the 1981 stage version. Here the part of David is played by newcomer Eddie Castrodad, who plays an almost-convincing 15-year-old despite the fact that he was in his early 30s at the time. But it is Harvey Fierstein whose extraordinary presence, wit, and acting range hold this movie together. For those who have only seen his cameo roles in Hollywood fodder such as Independence Day and Mrs Doubtfire, his performance here will come as a huge surprise. He is unique; there is no other word for it. The only blight on this otherwise splendid movie is Paul Bogart's flat, uninspired direction. His treatment simply lacks the magic touch this story so richly deserves, and it's a great shame that such an outstanding cast and script were let down by his TV movie approach. But don't let that put you off buying this priceless gem of a movie.
Rating:
Summary: The best gay film of all time
Review: I gave this 5 stars based on its original release date. Yes, it is a bit dated now, but it really does not hurt the film if you look at it as a snapshot of the time. Fierstein is just wonderful. I dare you to not love Arnold by the end of this movie. He is warm, funny, sentimental, loyal, and kind - and still not sappy; an oddball hero that you can't stop hoping for. (ugh- preoposition). Broderick is charming and romantic as the knight in shining armor. Kerwin is heartbreaking and has some beautiful scenes to work with here. Bancroft is a force-of-nature and while she is sometimes over-the-top, she still remains very human. A comedy, semi-period piece, love story about family,blood or otherwise, and the things that bring us together and ultimately hold us together. Quite wonderful actually.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite movie.
Review: I have seen this movie 50 times and never grow tired of it. The central character "Arnold" is a drag queen in search of love and respect from his boyfriend and mother. Good character dialog between Arnold and his mother at the cemetary. Anne Bancroft (Ma) is wonderful here, very convincing. Please watch this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Well ain't this a kick in the rubber parts?!
Review: I love this film. I have ever since early 1989, when I first saw it in a theater back in Chicago (they wouldn't show this type of film out in the 'burbs back then, so I had to drive into the city). It was a must-have in my VHS collection, and it's a must-have now in my DVD collection. The picture and sound quality are fantastic - BETTER than the VHS release, in fact. The cover art is identical to my old VHS copy, but that's a very minor issue. As for the buzzing sound that others reported hearing in the dressing room scenes of Act One, all I can say is that perhaps they're hearing the low hum of Arnold's make-up mirror lights. Who knows. It sounded great on my middle-of-the-road sound system, and I'm elated. Listening to Harvey Fierstein's commentary, I was surprised to learn that the film didn't make much money after its initial release, despite the stage version's success on and off Broadway. I also had no idea that all the major players in this movie had appeared in the stage version at some point or another. Harvey also touched on how the AIDS crisis played a part in the history of this show (and why the dates of the action in this story were "fudged" to take place before AIDS even became an issue in gay life). So much information provided on this track was brand new to me. It was like getting a long-overdue lesson in gay history. I'm proud to have it in my collection. Now if they'd only re-release the music soundtrack CD...
Rating:
Summary: This is a must see movie!!!
Review: I remember seeing this movie when I was a teenager and just starting to get in touch with my sexuality. I felt that I could really relate to Harvey Fierstein's character and his loneliness because I also felt totally alone at that time. I think this movie played a very important role in my decision to come out to my family. Now that I am an older and wiser gay man, this story still rings true. This is also a good movie for straight people to watch to get a clear and realistic portrait of what gay America is all about.
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