Jeff Giles
BOYS ON THE SIDE
Like a lot of women out there, Jane (Whoopi Goldberg), Robin (Mary-Louise Parker) and Holly (Drew Barrymore) really want to be Thelma and Louise. They know their lives are dulland confining, so they hit the road in search of liberation, bags packed with the requisite cute sunglasses, soul tunes and toenail polish. ““Boys on the Side’’ owes such a debt to ““Thelma & Louise’’ thatit includes a subplot about an unintentional murder the cops will never believe was self-defense; when Whoopi says, ““I am not going over a cliff for you two,’’ it’s straight homage. Whoopi approaches her role of feisty, lovelorn blues singer with unusual understatement, while Parker is quite solid as a repressed real-estate agent with a dark secret. Barrymore just seems adorable. But director Herbert Ross (““The Goodbye Girl,’’ ““Steel Magnolias’’) istoo old-school Hollywood to take the risks ““Boys on the Side’’ needs. Once the filmdevolves into teary hospital scenes and courtroom shtik, you might pine for Thelmaand Louise’s daring road to oblivion.
Karen Schoemer
