The 1982 movie Partners is one of the single most ugly movies about the gay community I have ever seen.
There is no other way to put it. To label it as a "hot mess" would be too kind. In the immortal words of Bart Simpson - "I never thought it was possible for something to suck and blow and the same time."
Partners was supposed to be an action comedy starring Ryan O'Neal and John Hurt as two policemen who go undercover as lovers in the gay community to find a possible serial killer of gay men.
Laughs a plenty, huh?
The hook is that O'Neal is a super macho heterosexual man while Hurt is a mousy, quiet gay man afraid of his shadow. Apparently he is not only a desk clerk but also totally oblivious of the fact that everyone knows that he is gay.
Are you laughing already?
The whole point of the movie is supposed to an evolution of O'Neal's character from uncomfortable homophobia is somewhat acceptance of gays, but that falls flat because there are absolutely no positive gay characters in this movie. None whatsoever. The gay men are either spooky, oversexed, violent, so stereotypically nelly that they cry at the drop of a hat or worse - all of those characterizations at once. The only gay characters seen in a positive light is only due to the fact that they have very little screen time.
Even when the movie tries to send a message (via an absolutely nasty scene in which the police humiliate a gay man by making him walk naked to his cell), it falls flat. It's just one more indignity in a movie full of indignities.
The worst thing in the movie has to be Hurt's portrayal. He is just hideous and constantly bears an expression on his face that says "oh brother, I just have to keep thinking about my paycheck to get through this shit." And he really should have known better. In 1975, he received critical acclaim for his awesome portrayal of gay icon Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant. Why he chose to make a 360 degree turn and do this movie is one of the greatest mysterious of life. Anyhow, here is a scene from Partners:
Past Know Your LGBT History Posts:
There is no other way to put it. To label it as a "hot mess" would be too kind. In the immortal words of Bart Simpson - "I never thought it was possible for something to suck and blow and the same time."
Partners was supposed to be an action comedy starring Ryan O'Neal and John Hurt as two policemen who go undercover as lovers in the gay community to find a possible serial killer of gay men.
Laughs a plenty, huh?
The hook is that O'Neal is a super macho heterosexual man while Hurt is a mousy, quiet gay man afraid of his shadow. Apparently he is not only a desk clerk but also totally oblivious of the fact that everyone knows that he is gay.
Are you laughing already?
The whole point of the movie is supposed to an evolution of O'Neal's character from uncomfortable homophobia is somewhat acceptance of gays, but that falls flat because there are absolutely no positive gay characters in this movie. None whatsoever. The gay men are either spooky, oversexed, violent, so stereotypically nelly that they cry at the drop of a hat or worse - all of those characterizations at once. The only gay characters seen in a positive light is only due to the fact that they have very little screen time.
Even when the movie tries to send a message (via an absolutely nasty scene in which the police humiliate a gay man by making him walk naked to his cell), it falls flat. It's just one more indignity in a movie full of indignities.
The worst thing in the movie has to be Hurt's portrayal. He is just hideous and constantly bears an expression on his face that says "oh brother, I just have to keep thinking about my paycheck to get through this shit." And he really should have known better. In 1975, he received critical acclaim for his awesome portrayal of gay icon Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant. Why he chose to make a 360 degree turn and do this movie is one of the greatest mysterious of life. Anyhow, here is a scene from Partners:
Past Know Your LGBT History Posts:
