Partners

Partners is a gay-themed buddy comedy from 1982. It stars Ryan O'Neal and John Hurt as a mismatched pair of cops. After a series of murders in the Los Angeles gay community, heterosexual police sergeant Benson (O'Neal) is assigned to the case. He is ordered to go undercover as half of a gay couple. The other half of the couple is Officer Kerwin (Hurt), a records clerk who everyone in the department knows is gay although he thinks he's closeted. T... more

Partners is a gay-themed buddy comedy from 1982. It stars Ryan O'Neal and John Hurt as a mismatched pair of cops. After a series of murders in the Los Angeles gay community, heterosexual police sergeant Benson (O'Neal) is assigned to the case. He is ordered to go undercover as half of a gay couple. The other half of the couple is Officer Kerwin (Hurt), a records clerk who everyone in the department knows is gay although he thinks he's closeted. The film derives much of its alleged humor from Benson's discomfort with homosexuality and his stereotypical ideas of "gay behaviour." The film shows the evolution of Benson's attitudes toward Kerwin and by extension gay people in general. Rex Reed, writing for the New York Post, panned the film, saying, "Hollywood's latest crime against humanity in general and homosexuals in particular is a dumb creepshow called Partners - stupid, tasteless and homophobic, this sleazy, superficial film implies that gay cops can't be trusted to work with... less