Boys on the Side | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Herbert Ross |
Produced by | Herbert Ross Arnon Milchan Steven Reuther |
Written by | Don Roos |
Starring | |
Music by | David Newman |
Cinematography | Donald E. Thorin |
Edited by | Michael R. Miller |
Production
company |
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Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date
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Running time
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115 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $21 million |
Box office | $23,440,188 |
Boys on the Side | |
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Soundtrack album by Various Artists | |
Released | 1995 |
Recorded | 1977-95 |
Genre | Rock |
Length | 54:57 |
Label | Arista |
Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic |
Boys on the Side is a 1995 American comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross (in his final film as a director). It stars Whoopi Goldberg, Drew Barrymore and Mary-Louise Parker as three friends on a cross-country road trip. The screenplay was written by Don Roos.
Three unique women embark on a cross-country road trip: Jane (Whoopi Goldberg), a lesbian lounge singer in search of a new life after breaking up with her girlfriend and getting fired; Holly (Drew Barrymore), a pregnant girl who just wants to escape her brutal boyfriend; and Robin (Mary-Louise Parker), an uptight real estate agent who has her own secrets (namely being infected with HIV).
Robin puts an ad in the newspaper that she is looking for a traveling companion to accompany her on a cross country trip to California. Jane answers the ad and agrees to join Robin after her car gets towed during their meeting. Jane and Robin leave New York City and travel through Pittsburgh to take Jane's friend Holly to lunch. They stumble across a knock out-fight between Holly and her abusive boyfriend, Nick, over some missing drugs.
They leave him there bound to a chair with tape after Holly hits him in the head with a bat to stop him from attacking Jane. Later, he frees himself from the chair, stumbles across the floor, falls and hits his head on the bat and dies. The three unlikely travelers then form a special friendship on their journey which sees them through ultimately tragic times.
After discovering that Nick is dead and that Holly is pregnant, the three women decide to continue across country and end up in Tucson, Arizona when Robin has to be hospitalized. They decide to stay in Tucson, hoping to start a new life. However, Jane has a secret crush on Robin, Holly falls in love with and eventually confesses to a local police officer named Abe Lincoln (Matthew McConaughey), and Robin finds the courage to face her impending death.