After 35 years, what lifts this movie out of the doldrums of caricature and stereotype is the stellar acting of Hurt, O'Neal and McMillan. The cast stretches from the extremes of defiantly gay to aggressively hetero, with Hurt being (for me) the central character who makes the film work. He's always been one of those rare actors who can make a so-so film worth watching, and an average film light years' better.
Screenwriter Veber had no fear of mining the gay lifestyle for laughs here, any more than he did in the classic La Cage Aux Folles 1 & 2. Yet blended into the film is Hurt's tormented Kerwin trying to fit into a straight world by denying his true self, and ending up miserably unhappy anyway. There's a poignancy to his character that gives Partners a seriousness amid all the over-the-top prancing and mincing. O'Neal also rescues Benson from the two dimension, by discovering -- despite his ease and success around the opposite sex -- an emotional depth and devotion to Kerwin that redeems him in the end.
All of which makes Partners worth watching again and again.
Screenwriter Veber had no fear of mining the gay lifestyle for laughs here, any more than he did in the classic La Cage Aux Folles 1 & 2. Yet blended into the film is Hurt's tormented Kerwin trying to fit into a straight world by denying his true self, and ending up miserably unhappy anyway. There's a poignancy to his character that gives Partners a seriousness amid all the over-the-top prancing and mincing. O'Neal also rescues Benson from the two dimension, by discovering -- despite his ease and success around the opposite sex -- an emotional depth and devotion to Kerwin that redeems him in the end.
All of which makes Partners worth watching again and again.