Parting Glances

Gay yuppie Robert (John Bolger) accepts an assignment in Africa that will put his strained relationship with his lover, Michael (Richard Ganoung), in limbo for the next few years. Michael, meanwhile, tends the needs of his ex, Nick (Steve Buscemi), whose punk band's video is getting MTV airplay even as he battles HIV and bittersweet memories in a claustrophobic apartment. After a farewell dinner thrown by Robert's foppish boss and his luminous wife, Michael and Robert fret and frolic with a host of Manhattan hipsters at a party thrown by their artist friend Joan (Kathy Kinney). These various crowd scenes set the stage for a series of one-on-one interactions that explore the romantic and other tensions of early AIDS-era Manhattan without offering too many easy resolutions. Buscemi would become an indie regular, while Kinney would go on to achieve fame on The Drew Carey Show in the 1990s.