Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1985. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The New York Times - November 15, 1985
Janet Maslin
The visits are formal at first -David arrives for the first one wearing a surgical mask, gloves and gown and carrying a gift-wrapped box of candy - but they soon become friendlier and more intense. David and Robert exchange confidences about their sexual histories, discuss their thoughts about the gay liberation movement and share their most private feelings. They look at old movies of Robert in happier days, and they talk about Robert's having been abandoned by family and friends. In one scene, Robert becomes unexpectedly distraught after David, who works as a typesetter, happens to read him some fundamentalist literature denouncing homosexuality.
Other characters figure tangentially in the story, but they are only voices; David's sympathetic mother, who talks to him several times over the telephone, sounds a lot like Elaine May without the humor. The film was written in five days and shot in nine, and it's accordingly thin. The characters say exactly what might be expected, and say it more often than would be necessary to get the point across; the performances are unrelievedly sincere. Still, if "Buddies," which opens today at the Film Forum 2, is on the blunt side, at least it tells its story as plainly as possible. It ends with a cry for federally financed research into acquired immune deficiency syndrome and wider public awareness of the problem. Shared Feelings BUDDIES, directed, written, edited and produced by Arthur J. Bressan Jr.; cinematography, Carl Teitelbaum; music by Jeffrey Olmsted; released by New Line Cinema. At Film Forum 2, 57 Watts Street. Running time: 81 minutes. This film has no rating.
851115
NYT851135
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