Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Friends stick together in '90s drama; language, sex.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Boys on the Side
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
New York singer Jane (Whoopi Goldberg) gets fired from her band in BOYS ON THE SIDE and decides to relocate to Los Angeles. She shares a ride west with Robin (Mary Louise Parker), a strait-laced real estate agent looking to start over. They stop in Pittsburgh to visit Jane's friend Holly (Drew Barrymore), who is in the middle of a violent fight with her longtime boyfriend, a scary drug-dealer who won't let any of the women leave until he finds his cocaine and stash of drug money. He bloodies Jane's lip and ends up whacked on the head with a baseball bat. They leave him tied up and screaming that he will kill them all. In time, we learn Holly is pregnant, Robin has HIV, and Jane is gay with a tendency to crush on straight women. News travels that the bad boyfriend dies of the bat wounds so the women hide out in Arizona, where they start a new life.
Is It Any Good?
So much happens in Boys on the Side that it often feels as if this is two or three movies rolled into one. Road picture, rescue story, friendship epic, tearjerker, courtroom drama, it's all here. But there is much to like in each tangent. Parker, Goldberg, and Barrymore, as well as a veteran supporting cast, make the most of this meandering but lovable piece. The score is a survey of pop music including Elvis, The Carpenters, The Cranberries, Tom Petty, and Bonnie Raitt. Goldberg sings a few and does a great job.
As with Brad Pitt's memorable small role in Thelma and Louise, Matthew McConaughey makes an attention-getting appearance here as a decent police officer who wants to marry Holly but needs her to get straight with the law first. The other women, who are a bit down on men, embrace him. "I like any man who dates a pregnant woman," Robin observes. "I wonder about him, but I like him." This was director Herbert Ross' last film.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the way the central friendship of the movie grows. Both Robin and Jane are unusual people. Does the movie convincingly portray the way they grow to respect each other? How so or not?
What are some ways the movie shows the social consequences of the AIDS crisis? How do the ways people changed their behaviors during the worst of that period parallel the way people changed behaviors during the worst of the COVID crisis?
How are attitudes toward gay people conveyed? Why do you think people are biased against those who are different? Have things changed since this movie was released?
Movie Details
- In theaters : February 3, 1995
- On DVD or streaming : December 12, 1999
- Cast : Whoopi Goldberg , Mary-Louise Parker , Drew Barrymore , Matthew McConaughey
- Director : Herbert Ross
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s) , Black Movie Actor(s) , Bisexual Movie Actor(s) , Gay Movie Writer(s)
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Drama
- Topics : Friendship
- Run time : 115 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : strong language and some sexuality
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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