Delayed Reaction: And the Band Played On

The Pitch: But what about the science of AIDS.

Covering the entirety of the story of AIDS throughout the 80s is a herculean task, even just shifting the focus to the research of it. In that respect, And the Band Played On does a commendable job. It attempts to take a more sober perspective on AIDS than, say, The Normal Heart, which is more about the victims. And the Band Plays On looks into the researchers trying to figure out what the disease even is then get the correct information about it to the public. It does this efficiently in two hours. The story has so many phases that the film is very disjointed and the pacing is never quite right. It manages to avoid histrionics and also explain a lot of very technical things in ways that are pretty easy to understand. It's definitely more intended for those who are unaware of the history of AIDS than people who already know all about it. For someone already well researched on it, I imagine the movie will feel like it is missing too much to even be worth it. I know a little, not a lot, and I found it informative to the extent that I bookmarked a bunch of Wikipedia articles as I watched it. For a TV Movie, it's pretty good. Not as good as Cheaters or Something the Lord Made, but good.

I'm a little baffled by the end of the movie though. It ends with a collection of clips of different people, events, and places and doesn't give them much context. That's fine and all, but it starts with a bunch of people who had AIDS before moving to people who, I guess, helped raise awareness but definitely didn't have AIDS. That got confusing. While watching, I was like, "Will Smith doesn't have AIDS. I'm pretty sure Princess Diana didn't...I don't think." I wish they could've edited that in a less confusing way.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend.