Longtime Companion

The acting in this film is superb (Bruce Davidson was nominated for an Oscar). The script is excellent. The story, sadly, is all too memorable, historical, believable, and true to life. This is a film that makes you laugh, makes you cry, and then stomps on your heart for good measure.

I was just coming out when the first whispered rumors of GRID first hit the streets. I was in Atlanta and the word came from NY. We knew it could never reach us. How wrong we were!

This film takes me back to those first carefree days of my "out" life and then walks me back through an accurate account of my life thereafter historically. I am fortunate. I never got HIV or AIDS, but I lost many many friends who did.

Every time I watch this film, the last scene makes me bawl my eyes out, remembering the wonderful friends I've lost to this horrible disease.

Watch this film and take it to heart that there is something to fear in having unprotected sex! Mandatory for young gay men and recommended for parents of the same, so they can support their gay sons.


Groundbreaking movie about AIDS   April 12, 2001
klavierspiel (TX, USA)
14 out of 15 found this review helpful

As a serious attempt to dramatize the AIDS crisis by showing its impact on a small group of friends, "Longtime Companion" holds up well. The limitations evident when the movie debuted are still there: yes, the men (with the obligatory wise-cracking straight female friend) are all rich yuppies, and they're all white. They seem to exist on their own without any family members--though perhaps this is realistic; many gays and lesbians are indeed estranged from close relatives. More seriously, the omission of the latest news available then about the HIV virus and how safer sex could reduce transmission makes the health picture appear more dark than it in fact was, even in 1990.

Ultimately none of this lessens the emotional impact of the intertwined stories of these characters, due to a quality script and superb acting. There are scenes that overwhelm even now with their power and truth, notably that of Bruce Davison gently helping his lover Mark Lamos let go of life, and the conclusion, that slips momentarily into fantasy in a most moving way. The promiscuous gay lifestyle is given its due, but so are stable, long-term relationships. One wonders why the careers of actors such as Campbell Scott and Dermot Mulroney have not taken off further than they have--hopefully it's not because they had the artistic courage to portray open, fully-rounded and attractive gay men.

"Longtime Companion" still stands out as a carefully produced, well-written and non-judgmental portrayal of people coping with one of the darkest periods of modern American history.


How it was in the early 80's as AIDS appeared.   November 25, 2006
Iryshkidd (California)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

I was 22 years old and partying freely with my friends on Fire Island when AIDS first appeared in a public way. The news paper articles, called it "gay cancer", and we joked at what seemed to be yet another attempt to disparage homosexual lifestyles. This movie has perfectly depicted the gay scene during that period, and absolutely captured the nature of groups of gay friends - male and female - as we lost dozens of our friends to this disease. The actors are absolutely wonderful, this movie is perfectly cast. The beauty of devotion and friendship, the ugliness of bigotry and lack of action to stop this disease are a perfect combination of the conflicts involed as AIDS began it's tragic invasion of America. As the "it can't happen to me" gave way to the fear, hysteria and blame, shining through was the indomitable spirit of the wonderful human beings who make up our gay community in unity, love, support and care. As a lesbian fully active in the gay community during the onset of AIDS, I lived this experience, it is absolutely spot on. This look back on the innocence lost of the gay community at the height of it's burgeoning acceptence into society is a landmark. This is a must own for anyone who is, or has loved and supported anyone, gay.


The way it was   February 26, 2006
Charles S. Houser (Binghamton, NY)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

The thing I remember most about this film when I saw it in the theater in 1990 was its honesty. On every level. Great care was taken to accurately depict one particular community at one particular time--when AIDS was first being diagnosed as "the gay cancer," up through the mid-eighties, when attending monthly funerals was commonplace for gay men and their friends. Though HIV/AIDS had been around for a decade when this movie was made, there was no effort on the part of the filmmakers to whitewash the past. They not only show the ugliness of the disease, they show the ugliness of people's response to it. Even within the gay community there was a tendency for people to fingerpoint, accusing the first victims of being more promiscuous than themselves, or more excessive users of amyl nitrate and recreational drugs. There was fear of contamination, reluctance to touch or kiss, and even intimacy within monogomous relationships was hampered. People reached deperately for New Age cures, and Louise Haye was the reigning goddess of self-healing. By choosing to depict a five-year period, the filmmakers allow the viewer to see the lives of a group of friends evolve and deepen. Some of course succumb to the disease and die, others wrestle with their losses and rethink their lives. In the end, the survivors try to become part of the solution; they become visiting volunteers and political activists. For all its authenticity, the film is not depressing. This is incredible ensemble acting at its best. Campbell Scott, Bruce Davison, and Mark Lamos give especially moving performances, but there are no slackers in this cast.

By the time the movie was released, the face of AIDS was already changing and the filmmakers were criticized for focusing exclusively on gay victims. I felt then, and I continue to believe, this is a misplaced criticism. All fiction is self-limited. LONGTIME COMPANION is the story of one small group of friends who are affected by an unknown and dreadful disease; and it shows how each of them responds to the challenges thrown at them. Yes, they were wealthy or middle-class white men who spent summers together on Fire Island. But LONGTIME COMPANION is not a celebration of their insular lives. In fact, by the end of the film, one of this insular group, Campbell Scott's character, is shown working as a home care volunteer who visits a Latino man. I think the filmmakers, like GMHC at the time, were aware that things were starting to change. It seems to me that the film's critics, even in 1990, had forgotten that AIDS was first announced in the New York Times as "gay cancer" and later as "Gay Related Immune Deficiency Syndrome" before being called AIDS. But that said, we need to remember that there are many other people's stories that are worth telling, including those of people living and coping with AIDS in Africa. My only hope is that these stories will be told with all the accuracy and sensitivity that went into the making of LONGTIME COMPANION.

The DVD has no significant "extras," but the transfer is excellent.