AIDS ‘Companion’ Shares a Moment

There is a scene in “Longtime Companion” in which Bruce Davison’s character repeatedly tells his dying lover to just “let go.” The touching sequence throws a twist at movie deathbed conventions in that Davison’s deteriorating better half happens to be Sean, a male AIDS patient.

The actor of “Willard” fame feels this moment can be shared by both gays and straights alike.

“I know there’ll be people that don’t have any gay friends and don’t know any but think of them as ‘that isolated planet over there,’ that will see the scene and say ‘Yeah, there’s me and my mother,’ or ‘There’s me and my father.’ And that’s when one’s perception changes,” says Davison.

The film chronicles the lives of a dozen or so homosexual men from 1981 through 1989. They all know each other as friends or lovers. 1981 is significant because that was when the New York Times first came out with some very disturbing articles about the then-unknown AIDS virus. The body count is kept to a minimum, while levity is intermittently injected to counteract the anguish inherent in the premise.

Davison’s wife had worked with “Companion” writer Craig Lucas and director Norman Rene years ago. The duo thought of Davison when they finally scraped the money together and asked him to become a part of their delicate endeavor. “The project was something that hadn’t been done before and I knew I had to do it,” declares Davison, who is currently starring in “The Cocktail Hour” at the Doolittle.

Only a small number of homosexually themed movies have been released over the years. Davison’s been around this place long enough to be privy to the reason.

“I mean, they call it ‘show business ,’ says the actor, very seriously. “It’s a business and I think anything that is successful . . . if this film is successful, there’ll be 20 gay films next year--or films relating to this situation.”