Boys on the Side

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Boys on the Side

R

Released Feb 3, 1995

1h 57m

Comedy

Drama

LGBTQ+

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

73%

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113 Reviews

69%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

After breaking up with her girlfriend, a nightclub singer, Jane (Whoopi Goldberg), answers a personal ad from Robin (Mary-Louise Parker), a real estate agent with AIDS, seeking a cross-country travel partner. On their journey from New York City to Los Angeles, the two stop by Pittsburgh to pick up Robin's friend Holly (Drew Barrymore), who is trying to escape an abusive relationship. With three distinct personalities, the women must overcome their differences to help one another.

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Critics Consensus

Pack your bags and leave them Boys on the Side to experience the kind of sisterhood that makes you laugh and cry through the bumpy, quirky road of life.

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Dolores Barclay

Associated Press

There's something strangely endearing about Boys on the Side. Perhaps it's the basic humanity woven into the movie's story, or the boundless optimism at its very heart.

Mar 15, 2023

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Rita Kempley

Washington Post

An engagingly acted, likable, fried green Thelma & Louise.

Mar 15, 2023

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Eleanor Ringel Cater

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Boys on the Side isn't a profound film or even, given the TV-movie nature of its "predicaments," an especially risky one. But it's solidly endearing in terms of emotion, humor and character.

Rated: 3/4

Mar 15, 2023

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...an amiable endeavor that benefits substantially from the top-tier efforts of its three stars...

Rated: 3/4

Oct 16, 2023

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Sara Voorhees

Scripps Howard News Service

I enjoyed every minute of it, and was moved to tears at least a dozen times. It's a brave movie, and it challenges the acceptability of prejudices that are the root of some of the most dangerous social problems of our time.

Mar 15, 2023

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Linda Cook

Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

This is for the same audience who loved Friend Green Tomatoes and Thelma and Louise, which also are movies about women banding together for strength.

Rated: 4/4

Mar 15, 2023

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Sarah H

I watched this back in high school when it came out, and here I am watching it again nearly 30 years later. This hits different as a middle age woman, and I'll tell you I cried for the entire second half of the movie. What a great movie centered around female strength and sisterhood. I just adore Whoopie and Mary Louise Parker in this one and fantastic Indigo Girls cameo.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/10/25

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Stephen C

Funny and successful pride in 1 hour and 57 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The USA grossed over $22,200,000.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/01/25

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thiago s

Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, a história é fraca, mas o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e mais relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

04/18/25

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olive r

saddest lesbian movie ive watched but one of my new found favorites

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/17/24

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Steve D

The mixed tones didn't work at all for me.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

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dave s

Boys on the Side tells the story of three disparate women (Whoopi Goldberg, Drew Barrymore, Mary-Louise Parker), all carrying their own significant emotional baggage, who embark on a road trip across America. However, what starts as a Thelma and Louise-like odyssey of personal discovery and female empowerment soon devolves into something more maudlin, along the line of Beaches. While the characters are all likeable enough and the movie is helped along by an excellent soundtrack, it ultimately feels as though it is hurt by the tonal shift, which feels like a bit of a cop-out, and way too much unnecessary and awkward dialogue, losing sight of how powerful imagery can be in such a visual medium. It's not that it's a bad movie, but you can't help but think that director Herbert Ross simply overthought things. Sometimes less is better.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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Herbert Ross

Director

Whoopi Goldberg

Jane

Mary-Louise Parker

Robin

Drew Barrymore

Holly

Matthew McConaughey

Abe

James Remar

Alex

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Synopsis

After breaking up with her girlfriend, a nightclub singer, Jane (Whoopi Goldberg), answers a personal ad from Robin (Mary-Louise Parker), a real estate agent with AIDS, seeking a cross-country travel partner. On their journey from New York City to Los Angeles, the two stop by Pittsburgh to pick up Robin's friend Holly (Drew Barrymore), who is trying to escape an abusive relationship. With three distinct personalities, the women must overcome their differences to help one another.

Director: Herbert Ross
Producer: Arnon Milchan, Steven Reuther, Herbert Ross
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: New Regency Pictures, Canal+, Regency Enterprises, Alcor Films
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 3, 1995, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $22.2M
Runtime: 1h 57m
Sound Mix: Surround

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