I was curious about PARTING GLANCES from very long because it's Steve Buscemi's debut (actually it's THE WAY IT IS but somehow it became lost) and also because, being a fan of 1980s cinema and songs I knew that I had to see it some day or another. Finally last May I saw it and I found it just average.
Robert and Michael are a gay couple in their 20s that live in New York. Robert has to leave for two years because of a job assignment in Africa so Michael has to stay behind. Michael's former partner Nick Webster (Buscemi) has AIDS and tries to cope with it while Michael still cooks for him. The movie then mostly shifts between the party for Robert before he leaves and scenes of the other characters' lives including Nick's surreal day-dreams.
I liked the concept. Not too many movies (especially in 1986) were made about gay couples so it was some sort of fresh air seeing a movie about one. But as it was presented here, they could have shown it in a subtler manner because in some moments it looked sad or capable of tragic consequences. And the ending, was kinda confusing because it's not clear if Robert went for real to Africa or not. The acting, by all no-names except Buscemi who later went on to greater things (or so I have been told) was ok and I think that if the script would have been better they certainly would have been better as a result.
In substance, one of those experimental movies that might look artsy but if you aren't in the right mood for it you might find it confusing.
Robert and Michael are a gay couple in their 20s that live in New York. Robert has to leave for two years because of a job assignment in Africa so Michael has to stay behind. Michael's former partner Nick Webster (Buscemi) has AIDS and tries to cope with it while Michael still cooks for him. The movie then mostly shifts between the party for Robert before he leaves and scenes of the other characters' lives including Nick's surreal day-dreams.
I liked the concept. Not too many movies (especially in 1986) were made about gay couples so it was some sort of fresh air seeing a movie about one. But as it was presented here, they could have shown it in a subtler manner because in some moments it looked sad or capable of tragic consequences. And the ending, was kinda confusing because it's not clear if Robert went for real to Africa or not. The acting, by all no-names except Buscemi who later went on to greater things (or so I have been told) was ok and I think that if the script would have been better they certainly would have been better as a result.
In substance, one of those experimental movies that might look artsy but if you aren't in the right mood for it you might find it confusing.