"Longtime Companion", the first full-length chronicle of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, remains as fresh a look today as when it was made in 1990. Beginning with the discovery of a "gay cancer" in 1981, the film follows a group of loosely-knit friends on a year-to-year basis throughout the decade, and does so with empathy and humor. There are many fine performances, including a moving one by a young Campbell Scott."Longtime Companion" seeks to reflect but also to educate, reminding viewers that the deaths of these friends held meaning not only for their intimates but for the larger community as well. AIDS may not make the headlines it once did, but it still warrants a good deal of medical attention through research and human consideration for those who have the disease. It would be fascinating if an updated "Longtime Companion" could ever be made.