bkoganbing You can't say there aren't good roles written for women after having seen Boys On The Side. Three plumb parts are written here for Mary Louise Parker, Whoopi Goldberg, and Drew Barrymore and another good one for Anita Gillette as Parker's mother.Parker is in need of someone to share road expenses on a move west and Goldberg answers an advertisement in New York. When they get to Pittsburgh they add on a pregnant Drew Barrymore fleeing from an abusive drug dealing boyfriend Billy Wirth. The last time I saw a film with a plot premise like this was Kalifornia where David Duchovny takes on a psychotic Brad Pitt as a traveling companion with their respective women. That one was deadly serious and I do mean deadly film. In a much lighter vein Charlie Ruggles and Mary Boland got Burns&Allen and a large great dane in Six Of A Kind.Boys On The Side falls between these other films in its humor ratio. The trenchant observations the women have about life and love are the best part of the film. All three have secrets we all learn, one of them is dying.Best two scenes in the film are Goldberg on the stand giving as good as she gets with prosecutor Dennis Boutsikaris and Parker and Gillette having a good mother and daughter hair letting down.Matthew McConaughey got some early attention here as a deputy sheriff who falls for Barrymore. It's a real difficult part and I'm not sure McConaughey avoided being too much a Dudley Do-Right.Still more than just cast member fans will find something to like with Boys On The Side. It will grow on you.

gavin-hoare This is my favorite film of all time. It has everything you want in a film.It is funny and has plenty of action throughout. It is also so sad, anyone who doesn't cry must be emotionally retarded. I especially love Mary Jane Parker in this film even though all the actors are great.The film has so many great lines in it too and who would have known Whoopi Goldberg has a decent singing voice. I strongly recommend everyone to watch this. Its just a shame i cant get this on region 2 DVD anywhere so i have to watch it on video which is not great.

nomad492 You know there is nothing on TV when there are three HBO channels in the hotel and this was the best there was. This is little more than PC story about characters that have no real interest. We have a lesbian, an AIDs patient, and a single pregnant woman who falls in love with an AZ cop. All of this, and there is not an interesting character in the bunch.The one redeeming part. Matthew McConaughey when he still had good hair. Okay, perhaps I'm being too hard.No, I'm not. The Wild Wild West with Will Smith still ranks as the worst movie made in recent memory and this one was not that bad. Well...not quite.Don't waste your time.

George Attwood BOYS ON THE SIDE **** Herbert Ross's last work, 'Boys On The Side' tells a unique, special story of the bonds between three women as they take a cross-country drive, end up in Nevado, and struggle through hardships, progressively developing in their character. Don Roos's screenplay is coherent and strong enough to make the transitions between the story's funny and dramatic moments smooth and generally effective for that matter. It's moral grounds are a bit too liberalized for my taste.Rating System***** Excellent **** Good *** Fair ** Poor * Bad