TV

No better love

'Boston Legal' couple's intense guy friendship is refreshing

By Diane Holloway
AMERICAN-STATESMAN TELEVISION WRITER
Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Denny Crane and Alan Shore, the lusty, skirt-chasing guys on "Boston Legal," are in love. Theirs is a deep, yet platonic love.

They have slept together, although not in the biblical sense, dressed as flamingos together and shared their innermost thoughts and insecurities.

The various women in their lives have never scratched this deep. It's as if Denny and Alan are married but having sex with other women.

Male characters have bonded on TV shows before. Oscar and Felix on "The Odd Couple," Joey and Chandler on "Friends," Sean and Christian on "Nip/Tuck." Trend spotters have tagged close emotional relationships between straight men with terms such as "man-love" or "male-lationships."

But not like the "Boston Legal" duo. This is true love.

It is a love affair born of need and opposite attraction. Denny, a gun-loving Republican, fears the creeping onset of "mad cow," his euphemism for Alzheimer's disease. Alan soothes Denny's worried soul.

Alan, a bleeding-heart liberal three decades younger, suffers from night terrors and aching loneliness; Denny spends the night and comforts him.

On a recent episode of David E. Kelley's brilliant comedy-drama, Denny, drained of his usual bluster, became jealous of Alan's friendship with Jerry "Hands" Espenson, the oddly behaving (Asperger syndrome) attorney who was fired from Crane Poole & Schmidt after attacking senior partner Shirley Schmidt, played by Candice Bergen.

Alan had helped Jerry successfully defend a murder suspect, and the two men celebrated with Scotch on Denny's balcony — the same balcony where Denny and Alan have shared their most heartfelt emotions at the end of every episode for the past two seasons.

Later, Denny awkwardly confessed to Alan that he felt betrayed. Denny said he expected their friendship to be exclusive, at least in its emotional depth.

Alan listened, his face melting at Denny's willingness to expose this vulnerability. After a pause, Alan said softly:

"I love you, Denny. You're my best friend."

This love affair is arguably the most touching relationship on television. It is certainly the best-written and most surprising. The perfect buffoon and the erudite intellectual entwining their hearts on a balcony, puffing cigars and sipping Scotch. It's magical.

If they were women, Denny and Alan would be called bosom buddies. It's the kind of abiding friendship that women tend to have more often than men. On television, male friendships tend to be stand-offish and superficial, so nobody runs the risk of seeming gay.

Heterosexual men aren't supposed to love each other. Denny and Alan clearly do.

William Shatner, who has turned his cardboard "Star Trek" acting career into thigh-slapping comedy, has brought an amazing softness to the portrayal of his love for Alan. Who knew Captain Kirk was capable of this kind of nuance?

James Spader, a real-life brainy guy known for playing quirky characters, is fabulous at spewing Kelley's complex, long-winded court arguments. But the subtle longing he gives to Alan's interactions with Denny is pure genius.

When "Boston Legal" arrived three seasons ago, Denny was the slightly demented, spotlight-seeking mentor; Alan was the brash upstart who admired Denny but reveled in his role as the firm's loose cannon. They were often at each other's throats.

But the legendary litigator had a secret that he only revealed to Alan — that his mind was slipping due to "mad cow." Alan quietly stepped in and backed him up in court.

Eventually their relationship became personal and they wound up on the balcony. These scenes are gems, often funny (the flamingo costumes were spectacular) but often touching.

"I've been unfaithful," confessed Denny, five times married and always on the prowl.

"Not to me," Alan replied with a soft smile.

Clearly, this is a love affair for the ages.

dholloway@statesman.com; 445-3608