JUNE 6, 1997 GAY PEOPle's ChroNICLE
23
EVENINGS OUT
A film that will stay with you a long time
Screen version of McNally's play is in some ways better
Love! Valour! Compassion! Directed by Joe Mantello
Fine Line Features
Reviewed by Tim Nasson
In many instances, non-musical stage-toscreen adaptations do nothing but Hollywoodize a playwright's innermost and passionate feelings. In a few cases (including Driving Miss Daisy) the transformation is flawless and makes the story better. Gay playwright Terrance McNally's Tony Awardwinning Love! Valour! Compassion! falls into the category of the latter, thankfully.
Unusual as well is an entire Broadway cast reprising their roles on screen. With the exception of the over-rated Nathan Lane, who is replaced in the film by Seinfeld's Jason Alexander, the cast remains the same, giving it the same feel it captured on stage, but at only two hours, with less of the bantering and needless chatter.
Love! Valour! Compassion! tells the story of eight gay men, two who are dying of AIDS, that convene at a Victorian home on three separate holidays throughout the course of a summer.
The film spectacularly succeeds at not becoming too sentimental or overly political, like last year's dreadful It's My Party.
The AIDS plot in this film blends in so smoothly that one may not notice it immediately. It does not obscure the film's true message: the amazing power of friendship. Would one expect anything less from such an
acclaimed writer? Seated directly behind me at the screening I attended were Regis and Joy Philbin. From their reaction-though they as heterosexuals were certainly outnumbered that night-it seems apparent, at least to me, that the film will not get lost in the Hollywood shuffle and only appeal to gay men.
Being the first out of the theater and holding the door for Joy, I could see tears in her eyes.
Included in the cast is Randy Becker. His role as Ramon, the testosterone-charged Latino (though Becker is neither gay nor Latino) gives the film it's sex appeal. Not the least bit inhibited, Ramon prances around
Six friends put on drag to poke fun at a scene from Swan Lake.
nude throughout a good portion of the film. Thankfully, his is the penis the audience sees the most of. One is spared from seeing more of Alexander than need be. Unlike the play, most of the character's penises are kept a little more tightly wrapped. (If one is going to the movies with those thoughts in mind, one will get the chance to see Marky Mark's ATTILA DORY
Stephen Bogardus and Jason Alexander learning the fine points of bumping.
equipment, albeit with the help of a prosthetic, when he plays John Holmes in the upcoming Boogie Nights.)
The biggest stretch in the acting comes from television's *George, Jason Alexander. Stepping into Nathan Lane's shoes would seem intimidating at first. Alexander's first few scenes in the film seem a little shaky, but he gets the character Buzz perfect in no time. He is much less annoying than Lane, who thankfully took a departure from all of the queeny roles he has played in the past few years.
Buzz is the glue that holds the group together, the clown that makes the children smile. His is also one of two characters that is coping with AIDS. The other is played by John Glover, who deservedly won the Tony for the same role on stage.
Glover brilliantly plays a dual role, twins John and James from England. One is a crotchety, butch, spiteful Brit, carrying Ramon around, acting out sexual fantasies, and wishing others dead of AIDS. The other is a queeny,
dying soul with not a spiteful bone in his body.
Though all of the featured actors are notable-Stephan Bogardus as Gregory, John Benjamin Hickey as Arthur, and Stephen Spinella as Perry-the other standout is Justin Kirk, as Bobby, the blind lover of Gregory.
Joe Mantello should also gain some recognition since he directed both the stage and screen versions of the story. His is a career that hopefully will ascend to great heights in the near future. This being his first film sets
ATTILA DORY
him well on his way to becoming a powerful presence in the movie industry, in addition to the name he has already made for himself in the theater world.
Love! Valour! Compassion! is a film that will stay with you for a long time. It is a touching and powerful film, one that will be hard to beat, this year or any other.
Tim Nasson is a syndicated writer whose autobiographical novel The Truth will be released later this year. He can be reached at TNasson@aol.com.
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