MovieChat Forums > Love! Valour! Compassion! (1997) Discussion > Remake of Boyfriends (1996)? Anyone els...

Remake of Boyfriends (1996)? Anyone else seen both?


The names are different, but the story lines are so similar.

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Seeing that Love! Valour! Compassion! was the 1995 Tony Award winner for Best Play on Broadway (after a successful 1994 Off-Broadway run), I'd say that Boyfriends (1996) was the rip-off, not the other way around.

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You're both wrong. Neither film is a remake or rip-off of the other.
You might as well say that *both* films are remakes/rip-offs of *The Big Chill.*

The only similarity between L!V!C! and Boyfriends is that they involve a group of gay men coming together for a weekend.

L!V!C! is an American film based upon an American play about gay men who are friends, some of them partners, some of them dealing immediately with HIV/AIDS. In particular, there are two gay identical twin brothers, one of whom cannot stand the other.

Boyfriends, on the other hand, is a British film about three gay men in England who have been friends for years. Paul has a partner, Ben; Matt has a regular boyfriend, Owen; and Will has a new almost boyfriend, Adam.

Paul has been down in the dumps the last several months because his brother, Mark, who was also gay, died in some kind of accident. He and Ben invite Matt and Will, and guests, to join them at a cottage near the sea that Paul owned with Mark, whose share is owned now by James, Mark's partner, who shows up unexpectedly.

There is much comedy and drama, many personal revelations, and all generally ends well. Paul deals with his issues and he and Ben stay together. Matt realises he can never trust Owen, so he goes home alone. And the cagey Adam finally warms to Will, while Owen manages to catch a lift back into town with James.

So, there are a few similarities between the two films, but they have the same similarities with any number of other films (notably *The Big Chill*); and apart from those very few similarities, L!V!C! and Boyfriends are **very** different movies altogether.

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