Boys on the Side | 
 enlarge | Director: Herbert Ross
Actors: Whoopi Goldberg, Mary-louise Parker, Drew Barrymore, Matthew Mcconaughey, James Remar
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
Buy New: $9.98
New (57) Used (45) from $2.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  41 reviews
Sales Rank: 8542
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 115
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 2
Picture Format: Array
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.5 x 0.6
MPN: WARD13570D
ISBN: 0790741822
UPC: 085391357025
EAN: 9780790741826
ASIN: 0790741822
Theatrical Release Date: February 3, 1995
Release Date: April 27, 1999
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
This female-bonding film takes your basic soap opera and twists it inside out. Although director Herbert Ross draws superb performances from his actresses, he occasionally wallows in that maudlin, Hollywood melodrama in which close-ups are crucial. Remember, this is the man who directed Steel Magnolias. However, Ross also does something you don't expect: he makes you fall in love with his characters. Whoopi Goldberg is a down-on-her luck singer who hopes to start over in Los Angeles. Mary-Louise Parker is the realtor whose life is going nowhere. After Goldberg answers Parker's ad in the paper for a companion to drive to LA, these two completely different women grudgingly find themselves emotionally involved. Drew Barrymore enters the picture on the first leg of the trip when Goldberg insists on visiting her. After battling with her drug-dealing boyfriend, the flighty, sexy Barrymore throws in with them. During their trek west, the women learn to take life as it lands on them while recognizing true friendship. The film is enlightened in that it accepts the complications and blurred family ties of the '90s. At the heart of the story is the realization that people can expand past expected boundaries. The movie gels in other areas as well. The all-female soundtrack is powerful and works to underscore, not overpower, certain scenes. The same can be said of the supporting cast, specifically Anita Gillette and James Remar. --Rochelle O'Gorman
Product Description
Three women a club musician a demure real estate agent and a flaky drug-dealers girlfriend make a break with their pasts and form an unlikely family while traveling across the country together. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 06/01/2004 Starring: Whoopi Goldberg Mary-louise Parker Run time: 113 minutes Rating: R Director: Herbert Ross
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| Customer Reviews: Read 36 more reviews...
 Well,,,, October 25, 2008
This is a good movie to watch with your girlfriends. It tells of a trio of friends who come from completely different backgrounds who struggle and stick together. Very touching story.
 excellent movie in excellent condition September 23, 2008
I'm always loved this movie! I saw it the first time many years ago and I am still empressed with the quality of work and the how this subject matter was handled. The stars really were well chosen and each scene llicited some emotion which is always a real indicator of the quality of the performances. Powerful!!!
Boys left on the side of the road to rot like some old high line pole July 4, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Boys on the Side tantalizes with an intriguing cast and concept. Though you might get to see a little bit of what Letterman saw on his birthday, mostly the movie doesn't deliver.
What you do get is kind of a female buddy/road picture that morphs into an AIDS picture. It takes that and the other serious issue of domestic violence, but doesn't really handle either one well. Still, there are some surprising and unexpected moments that do work, and it is hard not to like Drew Barrymore, even if the movie is not so great. When BOTS gets all serious, it really bogs down. Robin (Mary-Louise Parker) speaks in such a low whisper that you can't even hear what she is saying. Hasn't she ever heard of a stage whisper? Everything gets much too serious. In the film's beginning Robin really did a great job of negotiating between Holly Pulchik (Drew Barrymore) and her drug dealing boyfriend, Nick, (Billy Wirth). It was a surprising scene, a positive take on Real Estate agents, and Mary-Louise really closed the deal. But like an agent who closes a deal and then lets it fester in escrow and won't return your calls, the rest of the movie doesn't live up to the promise of the beginning.
Jane Deluca (Whoopi Goldberg) is a rock singer and in the opening she sings Piece of My Heart. I like her version better than Faith Hill's because she at least had heard the original by Janis Joplin and was striving for a similar effect, unlike Faith who hadn't heard it and didn't care.
There is another scene where Jane gets a piano and uses it to serenade Robin with Superstar, the Leon Russell song that was a hit for Karen Carpenter. Whoopi does it very well, not technically, as it is rather fragile, but all the more heartfelt for being so. It is touching because earlier Robin confessed to singing Carpenters songs and was met with a cynical rolling of the eyes. It reminded me of where Whitney Houston sang I Will Always Love You to Kevin Costner in The Bodyguard after having heard the original Dolly Parton version on a juke box in a country western bar.
Drew Barrymore is not beautiful but she is cute as a button and her winning personality warms the cockles of my heart. I hear she is heading up a new project about roller derby girls, and has already gotten loads of talent on board.
Whoopi is now on The View, and is really a diplomat. Unlike Rosie or even the Whoopi of recent past, she is very respectful of others views and perspectives. What happened? She is kind of the buffer zone now. Whoopi cushion?
Mary-Louise Parker was just in the smash hit, Sex in the City. Wait, that was Sarah Jessica Parker. Never mind.
The movie made me think of a million things, but if I followed all the tangents to their illogical conclusions, we'll be here all week. Or I will, as you will have clicked on another link long ago.
10 Films Featuring Whoopi, Drew, and Mary-Louise
Girl, Interrupted (1999) .... Valerie Owens, RN was portrayed by Whoopi.
How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998) .... Delilah Abraham was Whoopi.
Ghost (1990) .... Oda Mae Brown was a role that won an Oscar for Whoopi.
The Color Purple (1985) .... Celie Johnson was also played by Whoopi, and she was nominated for an Oscar for her leading role.
Naked in New York (1993) .... Joanne White was played by Mary-Louise, and Whoopi was Tragedy Mask on Theater Wall.
Fried Green Tomatoes (Widescreen Collector's Edition) (1991) .... Ruth Jamison was played by Mary-Louise Parker.
Charlie's Angels (Special Edition) (2000) .... Dylan Sanders was played by Drew. Very bad, but watchable if only for Drew and Lucy Liu. Ditto squared for Full Throttle.
Riding in Cars with Boys (Special Edition) (2001) .... Beverly Donofrio was Drew. How about Riding in Cars with Boys on the Side?
Poison Ivy (1992) .... Ivy as played by Drew was really poison, but HOT poison.
The Wedding Singer - Totally Awesome Edition (1998) .... Julia was Drew and Adam Sandler was the Wedding Singer. Totally awesome chemistry. Don't like Sandler's comedy style but here it was totally awesome, the exception to the fool.
One last quote, Robin and Holly discussing the folly of gays falling for straights and Jane's lost, last love:
Robin: But this person who dumped her, she was gay, right?
Holly: Yeah, but even with gay girls there are no guarantees. They're very emotional. That's about all I know. They love uniforms and don't break their hearts.
Robin: Uniforms?
Holly: Oh, yeah, all kinds. Especially UPS.
 You could have been Donna Reid in another life! April 7, 2008
Excellent movie is all I can say. The movie opens with Whoopi Goldberg as a musician in a club with not a lot of appreciation. When a member of her band realizes the club doesnt want them to perform there anymore, she realizes she needs a different plan. With her stubborn humor and her way or the highway attitude, she goes it alone. She answers an ad by Mary Louise Parker to drive cross country to California where both women plan to start a different existence, for very different reasons. Along the way, Whoopi Goldberg wants to check in on her friend Drew Barrymore, who is being abused by her no good drug dealing and using boyfriend.
Surprises along the way make you bond with all of the characters for different reasons. Robin (Mary Louise Parker) is likeable for the same reason that Charlotte was likeable for sex and the city. She is a perfectionist, everything needs a plan, and she has high hopes for the future. Holly (Drew Barrymore) is very flirtatious and young and sexy in her prime. While she wallows for her boyfriend that she left behind, she realizes what else life has in store for her. Whoopi Goldberg (Jane) is kind of like the parental unit that holds it all together. Amongst a tragedy all of the women witness, they form a bond that is stronger than any relationship they have ever formed with a man.
Great movie, a chick flick on certain terms, but not the expected. Definitly a must see.
"I am not going over a cliff for you two" March 11, 2008
So says gruff Jane at the start of the road trip, but by the end you get the feeling that she would do it. This movie is about three women and their friendship, love, betrayal, joy, heartache, survival, and life. It is a drama with some lighter moments, like when Holly's baby is born (with dark skin) and Abe looks over at Jane. Matthew McConaughey plays super-dimwitted cop Abe Lincoln (haha). Robin provides most of the drama, she has a lot of skeletons in her closet but finds happiness in the end. Mary-Louise Parker, Whoopi Goldberg and Drew Barrymore are all stellar, this is one of my all-time favorites.
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