Boys on the Side is a 1995 comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross (his last film before his death six years later). It stars Whoopi Goldberg, Drew Barrymore and Mary-Louise Parker as three friends on a cross-country road trip. The screenplay was written by Don Roos.

Synopsis

Three unique women embark on a cross-country road trip: Jane (Whoopi Goldberg), a lesbian lounge singer in search of a new life after breaking up with her girlfriend; Holly (Drew Barrymore), a pregnant girl who just wants to escape her brutal boyfriend; and Robin (Mary-Louise Parker), an uptight real estate agent who has her own secrets (namely being infected with HIV). Robin puts an ad in the newspaper that she is looking for a traveling companion to drive across country to California with. Jane answers the ad and agrees to join Robin after her car gets towed during their meeting. Jane and Robin leave New York and travel through Pittsburgh to take Jane's friend Holly to lunch. They stumble across a knock out fight between Holly and her abusive boyfriend, Nick, over some missing drugs. They leave him there bound to a chair with tape after Holly hits him in the head with a bat to stop him from attacking Jane. Unbeknownst to the women, without medical attention, the blow Nick received to his head turns out to be fatal, as he stumbles across the floor and dies.