Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

The Boys In The Band 

This film is a tour de force by the entire cast as well as a compelling narrative that will have you emotionally drained afterwards but engaged the entire time. This is a film that blew my mind and shattered my heart as the film takes place in a singular setting and the performances all delivered by the entire cast are truly outstanding. It deals with themes of coming to terms with sexuality, friendship and betrayal. It’s an incredibly well structured film that takes place in this small apartment in mid 1960’s New York and it keeps heightening and heightening until things eventually collapse. As they all deal with emotional pain through the course of the story and every actor gets their turn to shine. 

Firstly, The Boys In The Band is a film that takes no prisoners it is an emotional punch in the jaw! It’s only truly masterful films that have left me emotionally exhausted and this film did just that. As I mentioned it all takes place in one long night at this party thrown for a friend and the way the dialogue is woven and delivered by the actors is incredible. The witting is so emotionally honest and the way the performances are shown onscreen are so emotionally raw. Their wasn’t one moment I was not engaged into the story for the entire film to take place in one apartment and consist of just talking for a 2 hour long drama it work’s because of how brilliantly the characters were fleshed out in fantastically used flashbacks that never felt like a crutch it leaned on or ever felt exhausting. The characters were l never looked in a positive light every person in this film has some sort of ugly past or event they regret or emotionally try to forget and it is exposed out in the open where they have to wear their heart on their sleeve. The film feels very authentic with its characters and the way they all carry themselves it almost felt like a documentary style of filmmaking in the way that it felt so real. As it never felt like acting as the words and conversations had this great flow and transition that was masterfully done. The film tackles very heavy topics and they don’t sugar coat it in any sense. The film makes an emotional charge at your heart it leaves you feeling the way the characters do by the end of the film drained emotionally but so satisfied that you attended this emotional avalanche. When they want to make a point across about lets say coming out of the closet or addressing your sexuality it never feels like it plays it safe it is brutally honest and in your face of such real confrontation. The Tones and the style of how this story was executed on film is genius and one of the best directed plays I’ve ever seen brought to the big screen in such an engaging and emotional way. 

Secondly,  The performances are jaw dropping good from everyone involved! This is probably one of the most outstanding performances I have seen from a cast in a film all year.  Michael Benjamin Washington delivers a gut wrenching performance that will bring you to a puddle of tears. His performance isn’t as flashy as the others but it still dominates the screen with an iron fist. He plays the character very subtly and emotionally really raw as he never hides his true feelings but always addresses them in the open which is Also what causes him such pain later on and Michael delivers a truly outstanding performance you cannot look away from. Then you have Robin De Jesus who provides a lot of the comic relief early on in the film and at first glance seems to be the only character that will be the funny character which he is for the first half. That being said as the film evolves we see so many other sides to him that is truly heart shattering to witness and he brings such a different range of emotions to this incredibly fun but emotionally broken character to life with such charisma and charm. Overall he gives one of the scene stealing performances of the film that will have you both laughing and crying. Andrew Rannells gives a fierce and very showy performance of such emotional hurt and pain and expresses it in a very sarcastic and sometimes mean spirited way. You can see the hurt in his eyes and he dose not address his true pain in his heart until later on when he unleashes his feelings in one of the most heartbreaking speeches of the entire film. From the way he carries himself to the way he would deliver his dialogue he brought it to such life through an intense emotional delivery that is truly brilliant. Then you have the two performances that to me really stole the show and that is Zachary Quinto and Jim Parsons. First off you have Zachary who brings this very intimidating presence to the screen the moment he comes through the door. He isn’t over the top with emotion but he is very calm and collected and can rip you apart with very soft spoken dialogue and he chews up every moment in such a incredible emotionally subtle but also true force of nature Zachary is outstanding on every level. Then their is Jim Parsons delivers what I think is his greatest performance of his career he Is emotionally harsh and heartbreakingly real in his portrayal of the character he plays you cannot take your eyes off of him he is truly a tour de force. 

Lastly, The Boys In The Band is a brutally honest and emotionally charged film with very raw performances that you cannot look away from. Its ability to use a single setting with these terrific actors was masterfully done along with the engaging story you will be intensely into until the credits roll Joe Mantello delivers a genius film that explores the depths of peoples hearts in one of the most real and authentic ways I have ever seen captured on film. Overall The Boys In The Band is a truly extraordinary film that everyone should go see I recommend everyone check this out. 

This film centres in 1968 New York City where seven friends gather for a friends birthday but when a storm forces them inside one comes up with a game to show the heartbreaking secrets people are hiding 

Rated R : Sexual Content|Drug Use|Language|Graphic Nudity

Jim Parsons : Jim delivers the performance of a lifetime! Parsons has given amazing performances over the years of course people know him for The Big Bang Theory. But for me he has been giving great work outside of that series that really launched his career. He was amazing in The Normal Heart and Hidden Figures just to name a few and then after seeing him in this film I can easily say this is his finest performance he has ever given on the big or small screen. He plays Michael a very emotionally guarded person who hides behind his walls of sarcasm and standoffish nature. He always speaks his mind about his frustrations and problems in his everyday hustle of things and also has no issue tearing people down with his honest thoughts. But what is interesting at least for me is that when he does not drink he is more emotionally stable and has more of a hold on himself and can restrain himself emotionally from lashing out. It is not until he takes his first drink where he falls down this hole of deep emotional carnage on everyone in that apartment. He makes up this very emotionally painful game that he makes his friends play to address their inner emotional hurt and with every person that participates you can see the sheer enjoyment he is getting from this conflict that goes on and yet he never gets brought down a peg until Harold says something later on. Jim plays the character in a very honest way but that is pretty stable emotionally but as the second act kicks in he unleashes sides to himself emotionally no one has seen Jim channel ever. He explores some very dark emotional depths of his heart and its actually genuinely scary at times to watch. As you can see him slip into this mindset of pure emotional insanity and rage and when he crosses that bridge you see him evolve into something that is chilling as his eyes turn black and his speech is intensified and he rips people down in ways that bring them to tears. He has no care for the ripple effect it will have on them as long as he himself is satisfied and Jim later on after he eventually gets himself talked too about his horrible treatment to his friends in a single speech given by Harold that inner shield that he guarded behind starts to crack and fall into pieces and he breaks down on the floor in a emotional meltdown that has him sobbing and Jim knocks it out of the park delivering this dialogue with such powerful weight and depth. It is a multi layered performance from Jim that is unlike anything  I have ever seen him give and truly is his finest performance of his career and honestly is also one of the best performances I have seen period.  

Zachary Quinto : Zachary delivers a performance of subtle and intimidating nature! Zachary dose not come into the film until  later on but the moment he comes through that door he sucks so much energy into the room. You can feel his energy and onscreen presence change the tone of the film entirely as he carries this mysterious weight to him that he never discusses. He is the only character that keeps his cool the entire film and I mean that as he never goes into a heated emotional speech. Yet without having to do that he is a person you don’t want to cross as we learn later on why. Zachary has this calm nature to him but makes such a big impact in what he says in his calming tone and he gets hurled such emotionally abusive comments about himself his love life his appearance and he takes it constantly. It is not until the last ten minutes where he puts Micheal in his place and stands up to him and tells him enough is enough and he rips him apart in ways Micheal could never imagine and all while doing it still keeps his calm nature. Zachary delivers a fantastic amount of depth to A very mysterious person as yes we hear about him from what Micheal says but Harold never talks about himself we only hear what others say. We never hear about how Harold ticks at any point and Zachary brings this chilling, emotionally impactful presence to the screen you can’t look away from and it is truly an outstanding performance that is one of Zacharys best. 

Joe Mantello : Joe Mantello delivers one of the best directional debuts as a director! He has given truly remarkable performances over the years most notably his work in the heartbreaking Normal Heart film. Here he brings his take on direction for the first time and it is incredibly impressive to me that this is his first ever directed feature. He takes the acclaimed play that has been around for years and gives a faithful onscreen adaptation. It has very much similar vibes to the Elizabeth Taylor classic Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Wolf? he perfectly brings the cast from the broadway revival of the show to the screen in such a masterful way. As he brings the small intimate setting and uses it to his advantage as when they are locked inside due to the storm you can feel the walls close in on them emotionally in a very intensive way. Joe explores the depths of the human heart in this raw tale of love and friendship and it rips your heart out and stomps on it with a freaking jack hammer. Not until your heart is shattered in a million pieces then you feel how each character has either felt or feels and his ability to get top notch performances from his entire cast was amazing. He took a very small story and expanded it in such a beautifully heartbreaking way that has you engaged the moment it starts until the last frame. I am looking forward to see what Joe will bring style wise to his other projects as from what I have seen here he is a genius director and cannot wait to see what he does next. Overall Joe brings his directional debut with great force.