Longtime Companion was released in 1990. I went to see it while living in NYC, and was so moved it took me a bit of time just to get out of my seat. I had moved to NYC in 1983, and was there for this time frame, reading the news in the Times as well as the NY Native. The movie covers the lives of several gay friends from 1981 to 1989, the start of the AIDS crisis marked by an article in the New York Times to the rest of the decade, marked by love, loss and political action [or lack thereof]. I lost far too many friends and acquaintances to the illness during that period, and in many way felt this movie spoke to me in a way few others have. I sat there in the theater crying, both out of loss and for the joy of the characters. The final scene is as joyful as you can get in a movie.
The cast was stellar. The cast list was Campbell Scott as Willy, Patrick Cassidy as Howard, John Dossett as Paul, Mary-Louise Parker as Lisa, Stephen Caffrey as Fuzzy, Welker White as Pochelle, Bruce Davison as David, Mark Lamos as Sean and Dermot Mulroney as John, with other roles played by Tony Shalhoub, David Drake and Dan Butler. It was written by Craig Lucas and directed by Norman René. It is in no way an easy movie to watch, but it is certainly worthwhile.
You can purchase Longtime Companion from Amazon, Wolfe Video or TLA Video.
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