As Is

Although Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart is listed as the first Broadway production about AIDS, William M Hoffman's As Is was produced on Broadway the same year and won the 1995 Desk Drama Award for best new play and an Obie for Distinguished Playwriting. But whilst The Normal Heart is, to date, yet to be filmed (a version to be directed by Barbra Streisand was aborted after a public falling out between Streisand and Kramer), As Is was made for TV. In his introduction to OutFront, a collection of contemporary gay and lesbian plays, Don Shewer claims that As Is is the best play written about AIDS yet, since it looks at the disease from a social and personal point of view (as opposed to Kramer's political part self-serving autobiography, part jeremiad), and unlike Kramer's unrelenting despondence, Hoffman insists that where there is life, there is hope. The theatrical origins of the play are still in evidence in this cable production, from Colleen Dewhurst's opening and closing one-take monologues to camera as a hospice worker, and the shorthand dialogue style that Hoffman often employs. Director Michael Lindsay-Hogg seems so terrified of the Masterpiece Theatre brand of filmed play that he misguidedly utilises staccato editing and pseudo-documentary confessions, which only make the dialogue seem more theatrical. And the level at which he pitches the score by Peter Matz doesn't help. The studio sets also reveal how underpopulated (and presumably underbudgeted) the project is, and when we get a street scene it's like a breath of air. However with all this said, it is the eloquence of Hoffman's text that rises above the director's misteps. The depth of the play comes from the observed detail of gay lifestyle. The premise is that Rich has returned to his ex-lover Saul after being diagnosed with AIDS, and this returning allows for both a re-examination of the relationship and also the climate that made gay men so susceptible to the virus (though we do see a woman in Rich's therapy group who has been infected by her IV drug-user husband). Adapting his own play, Hoffman has made minor cuts and lost a hotline sequence that I didn't like anyway. In spite of the blackness of the subject matter, he easily interjects humour. The bar scenes are particularly funny in their self-consciousness, and we get the gallows humour of the gay men. Jonathan Hadary originated the role of Saul on stage and here he is magnificent. It's the kind of performance that an actor can easily be defined by, with subtleties and emotion concealed under the guise of a stereotype. Robert Carradine's Rich is less assured. Perhaps these kind of martyr roles are impossible to play, or perhaps it is that the carers of those facing death have the meatier parts since they get to stay. Plus Saul is the one to explain the title. Carradine's face is too much a reminder of his relatives, he isn't believable as a gay man, and his rage seems constricted. Saul's big reaction to Rich's "selfishness" in hospital seems therefore unprovoked. The staging of a fall in the hospital is also reminiscent of the final scene in Camille, which I would like to think is intentional, though I have my doubts. My favourite scene is the one where Rich's shamed brother visits him. The expectation of gay moral superiority is not met and we are touched by the brother's efforts to empathise with someone he realises he does not want to lose. Joanna Miles as Rich's actress friend is warm but has little to do except introduce him to her cousin Chet, (gorgeous Doug Annear) who will break up the relationship, though Hoffman gives short shift to explaining Chet's fate. Lindsay-Hogg lingers on Miles' farewell to Rich in hospital, in the same way he pauses after more than once we are told how gay men have abandoned their infected partners, making a cinematic judgment. Thankfully Dewhurst's appearances let us hear her throaty chuckle.

I saw this when it first was broadcast and now, 22 years later it's still with me. The characters are not whitewashed, they're real. Dewhurst, always one of my favorite earth-mother actresses brings a needed bit of humor and also a sensible comment on attitudes, Carradine as the PWA is neither a victim nor the bad guy. His frustrations with life being alternately at a point where "he had been jogging and coming to the realization that "it doesn't get any better than this" juxtaposed with barely being able to stand and being angry by early prejudice and fears about his disease. Best of all however, was Jonathan Hadary as Saul, the one person who loves him enough to argue with him when he doesn't appear to love himself. In my view, this is one of THE classic AIDS movies.

I have been searching for YEARS as to the name of this film...because I only got to see it once. I'll be truthful, I had NO IDEA what I was looking at, but I figured it out quickly...and based on my memory...there are a few things I misunderstood about it.

From my memory, I remember that Robert Carradine played a man who had HIV and AIDS and I remember being saddened by the reactions of those around him when they discovered his condition. What I didn't understand, and still don't, was the reason why he was so reckless - with his life and the lives of those who were around him. It was the 80's and many of us didn't know the whole story about the disease..and the few films that were allowed to be done were sources of information as well. I know there was a background to this film (such as I had no idea this was a Broadway Play at the time) but none of this came across. Plus the fact they did not show it often enough for it to make an impact no matter how minor about this disease in a time when it was important to dispel myths and gain compassion and help.

Bottom line: It's 20 years later and they need to show it again. I'm much older and I'll probably gain a better perspective as many of us who did catch it and didn't "get it" did.

Now that the LOGO Channel is on many cable and satellite systems, I hope they do. And you DON'T have to be Gay or Lesbian to watch...or gain knowledge... just a human being with compassion. Show this again.

Caught this movie years ago on cable. What struck me was the portrayal by Hadary; to me it was the most realistic portrayal of a gay man I had seen to that point. I had (and have) many gay friends and he seemed to catch many of the aspects that I had noted in my friends without going over the top (as has happened many times).

The story itself is, of course, powerful and the only reason I don't give it a 10 out of 10 is that it is a filmed version of a play and that is rarely pulled off well. They did an excellent job, but I still can see the "play" aspect of it. Regardless, it is well worth a viewing and I recommend it highly.