BOYS ON THE SIDE (1995) Director: Herbert Ross Cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Drew Barrymore, Mary-Louise Parker, James Remar, Billy Wirth, Matthew McConaughey Running Time: 1 hr 57 mins Rating: R Distributor: Warner Home Video, Ltd. (Canada) Locations: Tucson.... Pittsburgh.... Hollywood Summary: A road trip with three compatible-but-contrasting women becomes a journey of self-discovery.

"Boys on the Side begins in wintery New York City. Nightclub singer Whoopi Goldberg steps down from the stage to intimidate a gum-chewing woman who was too busy flirting with her boyfriend to listen. Right off the bat, the movie fairly announces it's about women paying attention to other women and leaving men, well, on the side."
Fed up with New York, Goldberg accepts an offer to share one-half of the driving responsibilities on a trip to California. Her partner: Mary-Louise Parker, a Mary Tyler Moore look-alike whom Goldberg immediately declares "the whitest woman on the face of the planet."
The two soon arrive in Pittsburgh, where they discover that Goldberg's friend, played by Drew Barrymore, is being abused by her druggie boyfriend Nick ( played by Billy Wirth).
If there was ever a scene designed to tap into women's anger against men, this is it. Where Thelma & Louise played its opening revenge scene for shock value, Boys on the Side aims for mirth. There is Barrymore in a scuffle with Nick and she procedes to hit him over the head with a bat and then gleefully taunt him.
Boys on the Side isn't shy about its status as a women's movie, and director Herbert Ross and screenwriter Don Roos don't hesitate to push all the buttons they can. There are the expected scenes of the three women bouncing along to music in the car, but the film also deals with serious subjects like lesbianism, terminal illness and fatherless pregnancy.
The movie comes complete with its very own female version of the Madonna-whore complex, where the best men are dead and the rest are buffoons. (Parker has occasional flashbacks to her perfect dead brother; viewers may recall a similar scenario in Fried Green Tomatoes.)
Fortunately, the script is too smart to let these sorts of tactics continue for the duration. When the three women arrive in Tucson, the movie enters a whole new phase.
In any case, it's during the latter half of Boys on the Side that the movie really takes off. Each character becomes fully, distinctly developed, and the dialogue is smart and sparing, even when the women are discussing synonyms for "vagina." Director Ross gives the movie just the right balance of drama and humor to keep it from drowning in its sentimental trappings, which, by film's end, earn a good deal of effectiveness.
The casting is ideal. Goldberg gets most of the good comic lines, but she also makes a fine sympathetic character, doing wonderful things with the eyebrows she doesn't have. It's good to have her back. Parker plays her usual vulnerable-on-the-outside, strong-on-the-inside role, fleshing out a full range of emotions with seemingly little effort.
And Barrymore is just right for her dippy part. She her sexy, rather airheaded role allows her to be herself and get away with it. Besides, she's got a great smile and looks fetching in Lolita glasses.
Boys on the Side pulls out all the stops with its ending, which culminates with Goldberg singing Parker a tear-tugging rendition of Roy Orbison's "You Got It." But there's a magic to the way the movie pulls together a sense of family, friendship and love--for once, the concoction has been mixed just right.

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