The Boys (aka The Guys) is a drama/black comedy television film starring James Woods and John Lithgow.
Others in the film include Joanna Gleason as Marie, Eve Gordon as Amanda, Alan Rosenberg as the psychiatrist and Rosemary Dunsmore as Helene.
[7][8] A day before the original broadcast on the ABC Network, an article with the Los Angeles Times was based on the film, under the headline "'Til Death Do They Part".
The article stated that writer Link used to say his relationship with long-time writing partner Levinson was like marriage without the sex.
It was also stated that in a short time, Lithgow and Woods said they developed the kind of comic rapport and unspoken bond that Levinson and Link shared.
Woods stated in the Los Angeles Times article "I told my agent to close his eyes and imagine the best person to play Arty, and I'll do the same thing.
Describing the acting in the film, Lithgow stated "The first time I saw James was in a student production of Jean-Paul Sartre's The Victors, when he was 19 years old, even back then, I'd heard an awful lot about him and his work process.
In a mid-April 1991 article with Ocala Star-Banner, writer Link spoke of the film's story and the writing of the script.
In the same article, Link spoke of how any worries of writing solo were soothed considerably with the signing of the two central roles to Woods and Lithgow.
Despite his squeaky clean lifestyle, now Walter has lung cancer, where he is given six months to live, and his life is literally going up in Artie's smoke.
[11] As Walter fights cancer he also tries to put his affairs in order by teaching writing to prison inmates, talking to his son and ex-wife, and getting his partner to quit smoking.
[13] Allmovie gave the film three out of five stars and wrote "The Boys is an "a clef" celebration of the famed script writing team of Richard Levinson and William Link.
Some observers have suggested that Link penned this tale more out of guilt than friendship; whatever the case, he wisely avoids overloading the material with sentiment, allowing the "boys" to kid around and squabble as much as they ever had.
The TV movie was written by William Link, who for years wrote and produced scripts with his partner, Richard Levinson.
But Artie and Walter emerge as real flesh and blood characters and no-one can doubt the depth of feelings harboured by Link for his late colleague or the pain at his loss.
"[15] Around the time of the original broadcasting, Chicago Tribune gave an unfavorable review, writing "As a two-hour anti-smoking advertisement, The Boys is an effective message.
As a two-hour homage from one-half of a famous screenwriting team to his dead partner, The Boys is an affectionate tribute.
But as a showcase for the talents of two fine actors, John Lithgow and James Woods, The Boys is a bust, just as it is as entertainment or tearjerker.
But filled with a shocking playfulness, the film doesn't delineate, in any interesting fashion, the nature of the friendship or the pain of its end.
"[16] Around the time of the original broadcasting, Lawrence Journal-World gave an unfavorable review, stating '"Take two first-rate character actors, the prodigiously talented John Lithgow and James Woods.
The Boys is somewhere between drama and black comedy, a modified Felix-and-Oscar story hinged on passive smoking, cancer and male bonding.