The Boys in the Band

 I watched the Netflix remake of The Boys in the Band over the weekend and liked it a lot more than the original movie from 1970. I tried to watch the 1970 version some years ago and couldn't make it past about 40 minutes. Too much bitching, too much mincing, too much ugh. I had to turn it off. (Sorry, not sorry.) Everything doesn't work for everyone. 

The new version certainly has better looking actors. (Hey, Matt Bomer.) While I liked the remake better than the original, I had some issues with it also. 1. Jim Parsons: he just didn't work for me in this role. I didn't believe for a minute that he was Michael. That Texan accent and his general way of being just didn't fly for me as Michael, the closeted Catholic. 2. Brian Hutchison: He looked too old to have been Parson's college roommate. I know Parsons plays younger than he really is, but they should have had an actor who looked younger. He looked like maybe he'd been Jim Parsons's college professor. 

Now for what did work: 1. Matt Bomer and Andrew Rannells hooking up. (Who knew? I didn't!) Their brief (too brief) sex scene was muy caliente. This one caught me totally off guard. I had to watch it twice and will probably go back and watch it again. Matt is, well, Matt. He's lovely. (Did I mention I met him April 4, 2011 in New York? I'm sure I did!) But Rannells surprised me. I like Andrew Rannells. I bought and read his book Too Much Is Not Enough and enjoyed it and I like seeing him interviewed. He's funny and tells great stories, but he doesn't do it for me in THAT way. (Again, everything doesn't work for everyone.) But seeing him and Matt together was great. Andrew had more chemistry with Matt in The Boys in the Band than he did with his real-life partner, Tuc Watkins. (Sorry, but they did!) 2. The cast: Parsons aside, I thought all of the actors did a great job. Quinto, Hutchison, Carver, de Jesus, Washington, Watkins, Bomer, Rannells all were great. I wish I had been able to see the play on Broadway, but that didn't happen. 3. Ryan Murphy: Say what you want about Ryan Murphy, but he knows how to shoot a beautiful man. I have issues with a lot of his stuff, but not with the way he shows good looking men like Matt Bomer and Finn Wittrock. He knows what's he's doing.