It's about a couple living in NYC--Michael (Richard Ganoung) and Robert (John Bolger). Robert is moving to Africa for 2 years for job related issues. The movies follows the last 24 hours of their life before he goes.There's no real plot but this caught (I heard) just what it was like to be a gay man in NYC in the mid-1980s. They're dealing with AIDS and various other issues but this is not an AIDS drama. Only one character has it (beautifully played by Steve Buscemi) and he deals with it in a humorous way. The movie deals with relationships (gay and straight) and how to deal with the various complications that arise within them. It's beautifully filmed in NYC with a wonderful script and sharp performances. There's also classical music in the background which helps the easy-going mood and feeling. It all leads to a happy (and believable) ending. Definitely a gay classic of the 1980s.This barely got released back in 1986 (it was made on a VERY low budget) and went nowhere but it became acknowledged over the years and is now held in high acclaim. One sad note--writer/director Bill Sherwood died of AIDS in 1990 so we'll never know what he might have accomplished.Well worth catching.

Parting Glances is a bit of life forever immortalized on film. It is truly endearing and real. It's mid eighties NYC, gay young America and early AIDS all rolled into a witty, intelligent film about real characters with umph. Parting Glances is special little film that sticks with you forever. Richard Ganoung, who has rarely been seen since is a gem, as is a young Steve Buscemi, John Bolger (ex Philip Guiding Light) and the great Kathy Kinney. This is what it is like to be gay! Most gay themed films can't even come close to this genuine, low budget feature. When I watch this it takes me back to a wonderful time of exploration and soul searching. It makes a feeling I had once, come alive again!

I saw this film shortly after its release and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I went so far as to arrange the Central PA premiere as part of an arts festival in State College, PA. The film resonates with me in many ways, but none so much (and to this day, 2 decades later it brings me to tears) when one character says that the other's beloved has left town and the other says, no, the beloved is YOU. Brilliant and so telling of relationships gay, straight and in between. You cannot be a living, breathing, LOVING human being and NOT see the universality in this film. Also, the depiction of life in NYC in the mid-80s is dead on, much like Ethan Mordden's "I Don't Think We're in Kansas Anymore" series. A slice of life that no longer exists is well represented here. Any one who was out in the 1980s will acknowledge that this is how the "scene" played out for many people.

An early gay movie that deals with AIDS on a first-hand basis, the film is delightful because it doesn't water down (or fetishize) the gay characters for a straight audience. Steve Buscemi gives a wacky, youthful performance as the character with the disease, and chronichles his relationship with his ex-boyfriend and his new partner. It's a slight but pretty enjoyable little movie, probably worth seeing for any Buscemi fan. 7/10