An offbeat but engaging script by screenwriter and future director Don Roos elevates this standard girl empowerment/tearjerker drama to a level above the typical entries in its genre. While the film occasionally veers off into sketchy territory, great performances by a trio of actresses (with Whoopi Goldberg in particular earning well-deserved kudos for her atypical restraint) and Roos's trademark sly sense of humor keep the cheese factor low. There are times when the story's roots are showing, such as in a phony crisis involving a possibly deceased, abusive boyfriend that smacks too clearly of Thelma and Louise and leaves the imagined sound of a fevered pitch-meeting ringing in one's ears. Boys on the Side has something altogether different in mind than distaff revenge fantasy, however, taking a welcome, unexpected twist in the road that leads to a more elegiac, thoughtfully sober, and aesthetically pleasing conclusion than the film's first act would lead viewers to expect. Director Herbert Ross displays the facility he demonstrated with a strong female cast in Steel Magnolias, resulting in a memorable film that, while far from being a classic, is worth viewing for those in need of a good, cleansing session of unrestrained weeping.
