Boys Don't Cry (1999) User Reviews

Disturbing and powerful film

[FlickJunkie-2 · 9/10 · 6 May 2000]

This is a poignant and powerful film. It is the true story of Teena Brandon, a young woman who is in the throes of a sexual identity crisis. She cuts her hair and dresses like a man to see if she can pass for one. What starts out as an experiment turns into a full fledged alter ego as she is accepted as a man by a group she meets in a bar. The story follows the group's escapades, including Brandon's love affair with Lana, who falls in love with Brandon, thinking she's a man. It culminates with the discovery that Brandon is actually a woman with a dramatic confrontation in the finale.

This is film noir at it's finest. A lot of people think that this is a story about courage and lesbianism but it is really about neither. It is about the search for identity; not just sexual identity but the search for a deeper self . All the characters in this film were lost and confused, but Brandon was the only one who realized it of herself. The rest were basically playing out their despondent lives trying not to think of who or what they were. Here was a person they loved and accepted, but who turned out to be the most heinous of deviants as defined by their own prejudices and fears. This is why they were so fundamentally shaken upon the revelation of Brandon's true identity. It left them to confront their own flimsy identities. They were left with no respite from the emotional vortex. Brandon presented a terrifying threat to the way they viewed themselves. They were compelled to change who they were or hate someone they had grown to love.

This film was also about obsession. Brandon takes extraordinary risks to live the male role, not out of courage, but out of an obsession to know and understand it, and to see if she can find comfort and a sense of belonging. Likewise, writer/director Kimberly Peirce had been obsessed with this story and researched it for five years before finally making the film. Obsession generally leads to one of two places: greatness or death. For Peirce, at least for the moment, it has lead to greatness in the production of this film.

Strictly from a technical directorial standpoint there was nothing special here. The lighting was amateurish, the shots were mostly mundane. The sets and locations were realistically trashy, but it is a lot easier to create realistic trash than realistic elegance. Peirce also bogs the film down occasionally with excessive character development. However, Peirce captures in the story and the filming, the essence of rural lower class crudenes, bigotry and hatred and fear. It is the raw emotion that reaches out and grabs us. Her lens brought into sharp focus the base reality of inescapable despair and deluded hope. Reality often has fangs, and Peirce was undaunted in showing them and then ripping us to shreds.

As to Hilary Swank, I can only add one more rose to the bouquet of praise that has been heaped on her. If there was any courage in this story, it was the courage of Swank to take such a complex and disturbing role. The subtlety of her performance was astounding. She needed not just to be a woman playing a man. She needed to be a woman playing a woman playing a man, trying to look convincing yet insecure and unsure of how she was being perceived by the other characters. When in character, her many skillful lapses into moments of femininity, only to snap back into masculinity were masterfully done. For Swank, this was a meteoric rise from obscurity. It remains to be seen if it was just the perfect alignment of actor and role, or something more. I hope for the latter and look forward to seeing her next project.

Greatly obscured by Swankmania, was the performance by Chloe Sevigny as Lana, Brandon's love interest. She gave an outstanding performance in another extraordinarily difficult role. Her conflict over the implications of her sexual and emotional feelings for Brandon were sensitively and delicately portrayed. She played the part with a tentative eagerness, just as one would expect of someone whose sexual identity had been thrown into upheaval. It was also no easy career choice to be cast in a role with so many explicit sexual scenes with another woman.

This film was stark reality with no holds barred. The filmmaking was technically unsophisticated (and I'm usually a real stickler about that), but I rated it a 9/10 on pure emotional power. This film is not for you if you are offended by lesbianism, graphic violence or profanity. But if you are not intimidated by the naked reality of the darker side of life, this is a film you must experience.

Unflinchingly honest, disturbing, and heart-breaking

[doeadear · 8/10 · 20 February 2000]

I was stunned by the simplicity and power of this fine film. It tells the true and tragic story of Teena Brandon/Brandon Teena, a woman living as a man in a small town in Nebraska. No matter what your personal opinions may be, this film does not preach. It tells the story in a matter-of-fact, honest and gritty way, but leaves you shaking your head in shock that such anger and hatred exists in these modern times, for someone who is "different" merely because of their sexual preference.

Relative newcomer Hilary Swank gives a heartfelt and courageous performance as Brandon. I say courageous not only because of the subject matter, but also because she is able to strip away her youthful, movie star glamour and become the character she plays. She is entirely convincing. Also, she shows a tremendous amount of guts for being able to get through the gut-wrenchingly violent rape scene. This was a brave choice, and a wise one.

Chloe Sevigny plays Lana, the girl Brandon loves. She is the only person who truly understands Brandon. Brandon finds himself in a world of drunken trailer trash and convicted felons. No one is free from guilt, but there is always the unspoken sin of being different. Hilary Swank and Chloe Sevigny play their tastefully erotic love scenes without seeming self-conscious. So many actors of their generation might be afraid to tackle these types of roles, but they do their jobs with aplomb.

The film was another that haunted me the day after seeing it. Kimberly Peirce manages to make a simple film about a very difficult subject, and she doesn't resort to Hollywood gloss or preachiness. It is a risky film, very difficult to watch in places, with several very violent and disturbing scenes. It is a story that needs to be told, and with the two Oscar-nominated performances from Ms. Swank and Ms. Sevigny, it succeeds.

A Moving Piece of Filmmaking.

[flickjunkie-3 · 9/10 · 2 December 2000]

Boys Don't Cry was a major success with the critics and the Academy Award's, so I looked forward to seeing it. Easily one of the best films of the past year, Boys Don't Cry is a moving experience that deserved all the credit it got, and then some.

The film takes for its source material the true story of Brandon Teena (Hilary Swank), a girl who, well, just wants to be a boy. A sex-changing (getting her hair cut and sticking a dildo down her pants) credit sequence sees our hero(ine) at first on the pull, duping a local girl into a bit of nookie, and then on the run, when the truth about her sexuality rears its bizarre head. A fugitive of the law, as well as a few irate townsfolk, a twist of fate leads to her befriending a bunch of trailer-trash misfits and, temporarily, enjoying a new-found freedom under her manly guise. Of course, it's all going to go horribly wrong - particularly when she falls in love with the local girlie sweetheart (Chloe Sevigny).

Chloe Sevigny, who plays the girl Brandon falls in love with, deserved to win an Academy Award. Her performance still lives in my memory, and it has been some time since I first saw Boys Don't Cry. Hilary Swank, who did receive an Oscar, pulls off an absolute barnstormer of a performance as Brandon Teena, it is easily one of the boldest and most memorable performances I saw in the 20th century. Kimberley Pierce is also another stand-out, she is in the director's chair, and she hardly got any praise for her amazing effort that she put into this film. I applaud everyone involved in Boys Don't Cry, even the one's who got little credit, particularly Brendan Sexton III (who plays a trouble-making misfit) and Andy Bienen (co-writer).

Groundbreaking performances and a brilliant debut directing effort make this film unmissable.

I rate Boys Don't Cry 9 out of 10.

powerful, disturbing human drama

[Buddy-51 · 13 May 2000]

The most impressive aspect of `Boys Don't Cry' is that it refuses to shy away from the sordid details of much of its protagonist's life, yet manages to convert her (or him if you prefer) into a sympathetic and comprehensible figure. In our most honest moments, we can all acknowledge aspects of our own lives and personalities that we don't understand, that we would love to change and that often make us feel alienated from the `norm' of society at large. In the case of Teena Brandon – a young man `trapped' in a woman's body - the anomaly happens to be a more pronounced and certainly less socially acceptable one than most of us are forced to endure in our lives. And she paid the ultimate price society demands from those it fears and does not understand: she was murdered in Nebraska in 1993, simply for being `different.'

The film builds a convincing case for compassionate understanding without converting Brandon into a saint-like figure. Not only do we witness the petty criminality of her life, but we see her propensity for duplicity and deception, a personality trait that actually leads in part to many of the troubles she encounters, playing a crucial role to a large extent even in her death itself. Yet, given society's out-of-hand rejection of transgendered people, what real options but a life of dishonesty is Brandon really given? Similarly, Lana, the young woman with whom Brandon falls in love and the one person who has ever accepted Brandon unconditionally for what she is, suffers from a number of her own demons.

Credit writer/director Kimberly Pierce and co-writer Andy Bienen for not taking the easy commercial path of reducing the moral complexities of the personalities involved to a black-and-white world where good and evil are displayed in neatly arranged patterns for our easy consumption. There are many times in this film when literally none of the people we are involved with are the slightest bit appealing. The filmmakers, in their faith in our maturity, ask us to go along on a pretty harrowing journey at times, but it is one that leads us to a very rewarding destination. The scenes in which Brandon's companions expose her secret is riveting and terrifying in its dramatic intensity and human sadness. The utter humiliation Brandon is forced to endure at the hands of the hooligans who are tormenting her broadens to become a symbolic representation of every person who has suffered such an injustice at the hands of unreasoning ignorance for whatever reason. It is a chilling reminder of the danger of the mob mentality unrestrained by empathy and enlightenment.

Like so many of the best off-Hollywood independent productions, `Boys Don't Cry' finds its truth in two crucial elements: the canny depiction of the bleak sterility and stifling provincialism of its Midwest setting and the uniformly first-rate performances by a largely unknown set of actors.

Hilary Swank, in her Oscar-winning turn as Brandon, and Chloe Sevigny as Lana achieve a naturalism in their portrayals that neutralizes any theatricality that might have robbed the film of its indispensable quality of immediacy and believability. They convert what might, in less capable hands, have become little more than a sensationalized freak show into a powerful and understandable drama about real, thoroughly recognizable human beings. For that alone, `Boys Don't Cry' becomes a cinematic experience impossible to forget

Remarkable depiction of real life drama

[nick-323 · 10/10 · 9 February 2000]

After finally getting the chance to see this film, I have to say it was worth the wait. Hillary Swank's performance was outstanding, she certainly deserves the golden globe she's already won and the oscar, she's sure to be nominated for. Brandon Teena was real, no questions. The director, Kimberly Pierce deserves much credit for telling the story subtlety, no black and white, he's wrong, she's right. I came away from this movie realizing the courage you have to possess to be different, the dangers from it are real and we must admire those brave enough among us to be.

Powerful, thoughtful

[Quicksand · 8/10 · 29 December 1999]

This is not the story of a woman living as a man, because that would imply that this woman merely dressed up and fooled people. That's not at all what's going on.

This is the story of a male who thought male, felt male, and WAS male, but looked down at the body God gave him, and saw that of a female. It's not homosexuality, or cross-dressing. The name given to it, in the film, is Sexual Identity Crisis, but I don't really think it's a crisis. I don't think there's anything wrong with Brandon Teena, or Teena Brandon, thinking that. It is merely who he is.

And this movie did make me think about it, and that is its success. Powerful at times, repulsive at times, those whose lives this story affected may not approve of the final film, but it can still open the eyes of people toward things in this world that they previously might not have understood... which may help the next Brandon find and keep happiness in his or her life.

Worth seeing, but not for the weak of stomach or easily offended.

Swank is not a lesbian at all but a transgendered individual, thus blurring the sexual divide in the best queer tradition

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 7/10 · 10 December 2008]

Teena Brandon (Hilary Swank) is a girl who wishes to become a boy Arriving in the small Nebraska town of Falls City, Teena binds her breasts, cuts her hair and calls herself Brandon Teena

When Brandon meets Lana (wonderfully played by Chloë Sevigny), a love affair develops in the course of which sexual identities and gender stereotype is turned upside down

Eventually Lana comes to realize Brandon is anatomically female, but by then she does not care Brandon offers her a caring relationship such as she has never known Unfortunately, Brandon's secret is eventually discovered by two young men, John and Tom, who have befriended him The knowledge that they have been deceived is deeply disturbing to their male pride

The film is based on a true story, which also the subject of a documentary, 'The Brandon Teena Story' (1998). But it is less its status as a true-crime document, more its subtle power to subvert our usual assumptions about sexuality that makes this a notable film, and a key text of the so-called 'queer' cinema

Unlike militant films which proselytize for homosexuality, 'queer' films adopt a more insidious strategy, seeking to undermine such rigid categories as gay and straight Thus Brandon, in Hilary Swank's excellent interpretation of the role, alert to all the ambiguities, is not a lesbian though he/she has sex with women And while he/she has adopted some of the physical attributes of a man (clothes, hair-style, certain mannerisms), Brandon has retained a softness and sensuality which implies a critique of conventional masculinity, and which is the secret of his/her sexual success with women No wonder he arouses the rage of other men

Sometimes they do

[DennisLittrell · 9/10 · 17 September 2001]

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon.)

This movie really made me think about sexual differences and what it means to have a sex change or to want one, or to be trapped in a gender you don't want. It was very effective to have us see Hilary Swank (who plays Brandon Teena/Teena Brandon) with short hair and male facial expressions and gestures without giving us a glimpse of her as Teena. (Actually we did get a brief glimpse in a photo.) Swank looks like a boy, acts like a boy, in fact works hard to be a boy; indeed that is (sadly) part of what this movie is about, what it means to be a boy in middle America as opposed to being a girl. And then when we have the scene with the tampons and the breast wrapping and we see her legs, the effect is startling, an effect possibly lost on those who knew that the person playing Brandon was a woman. It was when I saw her legs and could tell at a glance that she was a woman with a woman's legs that I realized just how subtle, but unmistakable are the anatomical sexual differences, and how convincing Swank's portrayal was.

I was reminded as I watched this of being a young person, of being a teenager and going through all the rituals and rites, unspoken, unplanned, without social sanction, that we all go through to prove our identity, because that is what Brandon was so eager to do, to prove his identity as a boy. I thought, ah such an advantage he has with the girls because he knows what they like and what they want. He can be smooth, and how pretty he looks. It was strange. I actually knew some guys in my youth who had such talent, and the girls did love them.

The direction by Kimberly Peirce is nicely paced and the forebodings of horror to come are sprinkled lightly throughout so that we don't really think about the resolution perhaps until the campfire scene in which John Lotter shows his self-inflicted scars and tosses the knife to Brandon. Then we know for sure, something bad is going to happen.

Hilary Swank is very convincing. Her performance is stunning, and she deserved the Academy Award she won for Best Actress. She is the type of tomboy/girl so beloved of the French cinema, tomboyish, but obvious a girl like, for example, Zouzou as seen in Chloe in the Afternoon (1972) or Élodie Bouchez in the The Dreamlife of Angels (1998), or many others. Indeed, one is even reminded of Juliette Binoche, who of course can play anything, or going way back, Leslie Caron in Gigi (1958). Chloe Signvey, who plays Lana Tisdel, the girl Brandon loves, whom I first saw in Palmetto (1998), where she stole a scene or two from Woody Allen and Elisabeth Shue, really comes off ironically as butch to Swank, yet manages a sexy, blue collar girl next door femininity. She also does a great job. Peter Sarsgaard is perfect as John Lotter, trailer trash car thief and homophobic redneck degenerate.

Very disturbing is the ending. If you know the story, you know the ending. Just how true this was to the real life story it is based on is really irrelevant. I knew nothing about the story, but I know that film makers always take license to tell it the way they think it will play best, and so it's best to just experience the film as the film, independent of the real story, which, like all real stories, can never be totally told.

Obviously this is not for the kiddies and comes as close to an "X" rating as any "R" movie you'll ever see. It will make most viewers uncomfortable, but it is the kind of story that needs to be told.

A great movie with an amazing strength

[danielll_rs · 7/10 · 2 April 2000]

"Boys Don't Cry", the debut film of director Kimberly Peirce, is more than anything a movie about who you really are to yourself and to the others. It's a story about courage, strength, love. Not only because of the strong sexuality and violence, but also because of its serious thematics and the way it treats these subjects, "Boys Don't Cry" is the strongest film of '99.

The story, which has been shocking many people, is about a girl named Teena Brandon (Hilary Swank) who dresses like and considers herself a boy, and changes her name for Brandon Teena. After some trouble in his town, Brandon meets a group of people and go with them to Falls City, in Nebraska. There his life will change even more, specially after he meets Lana (Chloe Sevigny), a girl who is tired of her life. Many things will happen, and I'm not able to tell this here, even this being a true story.

What is special in this film is that we forget that it is based on real life. And this is because of the amazing performance by Hilary Swank. I was quite unsure if she deserved to win the Oscar, because she was competing with Annette Bening and Julianne Moore! But she won, and now I can understand why. The film has many qualities, but it wouldn't have been so good without Hilary. It is one of the best female performances of the '90s. But Chloe Sevigny shouldn't be forgotten. She is worth of as much recognition as Ms. Swank, in a very difficult role too.

With a great film editing and a very well written screenplay, "Boys Don't Cry" is a must-see. However, it is not for everyone. Some scenes can shock many people, and people who are not mature enough shouldn't see it.

When the film ends, we get back to reality and realize that it was all true. It's so sad, unfair and absurd how things like that happen because of a dirty feeling. It gives a great discussion about how truly unfair and ugly inside some people are. But the world is not lost...

9/10

WOW! One of the most powerful films EVER!

[reedis-2 · 10/10 · 18 April 2000]

For a movie to be able to start off a "little" (emphasis on little) slow, and turn into a spectacle of both amazing acting, directing, and an amazing script is not only a rarity, but is almost unheard of. "Boys Don't Cry" is one of the most powerful films that I have ever seen. Ms. Hilary Swank embraced her character with open arms, and turned him into a hero. A incredibly hard task, considering a "few minor 'glitches'". The fact that this movie is based upon a true story only emphasizes the themes it is trying to portray. As a human race, it only makes sense that we should strive to accept our originality and differences, and celebrate them, rather than diminish them, and look upon them as being "bad". This movie is one that gives the audience the "complete package", and not just a pretty actress or soundtrack. As an all encompassing film, "Boys Don't Cry" is brilliant.

Well made but VERY difficult to watch.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 15 May 2022]

"Boys Don't Cry" is a recreation of the later years of Brandon Teena, who was raped and murdered along with two others. It seems that Brandon was trans...and hoped to surgically become a man one day. In the meantime, he lived his life as a man and fell in with some truly awful people....the 'friends' who ultimately ended up committing these awful hate crimes.

Considering the case made national headlines and won kudos from critics and the Oscars, the story is a bit surprising. Instead of making Brandon some sort of saint or hero, he is shown as a rather screwed up young person...not that in any way am I blaming the victims for the godawful crimes committed against them. But it clearly is a 'warts and all' portrayal of Brandon.

So is the film any good? Well, yes, it's well constructed and well acted. However, some might not enjoy watching a film where most everyone is easy to dislike. Some others might not want to see it because it is very unpleasant towards the end. After all, the story culminates in a rape and multiple murder! It is certainly NOT for everyone and is tough to watch. Fortunately, the attacks aren't as vividly shown in the movie as they could have been and the director showed some restraint...but it's still godawful to watch.

So is this film right for you? Well, that's something you'll have to decide for yourself.

Everybody should watch that movie

[magda-13 · 10/10 · 11 February 2000]

I just watched Boys don´t cry, and I am really sad about what I saw here. It is so hard to understand that there are still people out there (in America) who feel threatened if there is a queer, transsexual or just DIFFERENT person.... Hillary Swank´s outstanding,natural performance among the other great ones... the beautiful scenery and great music... the realistic setting of a hick, disillusioned village ... it all comes together to have created a wonderful, touching film that should everybody make thoughtful about why they don´t like some other people or what kind of prejudices they have.... watch that film!!

Not the easiest subject, but well portrayed

[philip_vanderveken · 7/10 · 18 March 2005]

When a movie gets the label "based on actual events" or something of that kind, then I'm already extra careful. Most of the time this kind of movies ends up to be some mellow tearjerker / TV-movie which went straight to video because it wasn't good enough to make it to the cinema. Well, if I'm wrong, I don't mind telling you that too and this time I was wrong.

"Boys Don't Cry" was actually a good movie with a disturbing, but also interesting subject. Brendon Teena pretends to be a boy but is actually a girl called Teena Brandon who is waiting for a sex change. But in the meantime he/she hangs out with other guys, drinking beer, bumper surfing and trying to charm the ladies, who are very pleased with Brendon, because he's more considerate and caring than the other boys. At first everything seems to go perfectly, but than his new friends find out his true identity, thanks to a letter from the police. Brandon has committed grand theft auto, but that's not their main concern. Their biggest problem is the fact that she has lied to them and that Brendon isn't a guy, but a girl pretending to be one. They can't cope with that and decide to learn him/her a lesson. What follows is humiliation, rape and eventually even murder...

Of course this kind of movies is very popular when the Oscars are being handed out, and this time it wasn't any different. It won two Oscars, one was for Hilary Swank's performance. I can only agree with that. Not only has she been courageous enough to play a role like that (I'm sure that many conservative Americans will have a lot of difficulties with this role), she also played it very convincingly. The other actors did a good job as well of course, but her performance stood out in my opinion.

All in all this is a very interesting movie that is more than just worth a watch, thanks to the good acting and the subject. I give it a 7.5/10.

almost 2 hours of self-indulgent, basically bad people doing bad things to one another and themselves

[minnow-6 · 3/10 · 28 November 1999]

Brandon Teena / Teena Brandon is the lead character in this story. According to him, he has a sexual identity crisis and is really a man with female body parts. But then again, according to Brandon he also has a sister that's a model in Hollywood. He's on his way to Memphis. He's going buy a trailer park, have friends over every night for barbecue, and live in his own Air Stream trailer. What Brandon is, at least according to the screen play, is a compulsive liar who's on the run from the law for grand theft auto and likes to live his life on the edge with a group of dangerous, self destructive 90s Charlie Manson wannabes. Brandon drinks and smokes with the boys. He shows off by risking his life tailgate skiing. He seduces the girls with his feminine side. And in the end, the lies no longer hold together. Where Brandon and the movie end is no surprise; it's just too bad it took so long getting there. `Boys Don't Cry' is almost 2 hours of self-indulgent, basically bad people doing bad things to one another and themselves. Neither the situation nor the people are worth any of your time. Skip this one.

Brilliant film, but a few pointers...

[Zen Bones · 26 March 2002]

The mark of a great film is that it conveys real feeling to an audience without having to explain everything by the numbers. This film achieves that, obviously. It has deeply moved anyone with even half a heart. Unfortunately, the subject matter of this film is SO unfamiliar to most people, that many have no understanding of what it was about. That's not their fault, nor Ms. Peirce's since had she spelled it all out to us, what we would have seen was a competent TV-type movie of the week, instead of a powerhouse of a film that touches us to the depths of our souls. But I think after reading so many of the reviews here at IMDB, some important facts should be understood.

Brandon was not a "male impersonator" or a lesbian, or crazy. He was a pre-operative female-to-male transsexual. That is, he was a male before the necessary physical transition that a transsexual goes through (ie. hormones and surgery) before he can be "officially" be declared a man. He was not a liar. He was a walking contradiction. He was as much a man as he would have been had he had the chance to undergo the biological and surgical transition. Because his body had not caught up with his mind, it's understandable that many people are confused about this. But hopefully, this fact will help audiences understand the confusion that Brandon felt. He was raised to believe, like all of us are, that what decides a person's gender is their anatomy, so the fact that his body was a lie to him all his life made it nearly impossible to live with the contradiction of what he organically knew to be the truth in his mind. Once he finally expressed his true self to the world by donning the physical appearance of 'Brandon', he could no longer go back to being 'Teena'. The cat was out of the bag. Imagine yourself as a man who knows that in order to not live a "lie" he must be called "Teena" and dress as a female every day of his life in order to join the workforce or socialize with other people. Once he'd fully established himself as the man he was, he could not subject himself to 'female drag', for what would have been numerous years for him (sex reassignment surgery costs tens of thousands of dollars and takes one to three years, once the process is started).

A reviewer here wrote "why Brandon chose to live there (Nebraska) with her lifestyle is beyond me." I'd like to kindly explain to this viewer and others who share the same sentiment that the answer to that puzzler is that Brandon was not a "her" and his reality was not a "lifestyle". Many people 'disagree' with this very fact. Thus, it is understandable that had Brandon gone to San Francisco, Paris, or Timbuktu, he would have confronted the same confusion and frustration, and unfortunately hostility and violence, no matter where he went. There are simply millions of people who do not understand transsexualism, thus it is common that their confusion leads to simply believing that it is the transsexual who is confused. I am not blaming anyone for these sentiments. It's only in recent years (mostly thanks to the internet) that there has been detailed study of female-to-male transsexualism. There are millions of female-to-male transsexuals throughout the world, and sadly most of them have suffered much of the pain that Brandon suffered until they became aware that they were not alone. Had the internet been available to Brandon during his lifetime, he would have had an opportunity to see that he was not alone, and that there were others like him who could lend him their support and guidance.

I'm most grateful to Ms. Peirce for making such a brave and deeply touching film, and I hope that viewers will, whether they understand Brandon or not, find an even deeper layer of tolerance for people who are quite different from themselves.

Brandon Teena --- 1972-1993

[bkoganbing · 10/10 · 9 December 2006]

At the tender of age 21 it was all over for Brandon Teena as young Teena Brandon had presented himself to the world. Two young men murdered him in the small town of Humboldt, Nebraska, unable to cope with the existence of someone outside of the norms they were carefully taught. The world took little notice of Brandon's passing back then. But when the relatively inexpensive production of Boy's Don't Cry got rave reviews resulting in an first Oscar for Hilary Swank, his story became known the world over.

It's only been in the past decade that the transgender right movement spun out on its own from the general gay/lesbian civil rights cause. Stories like Brandon Teena's or Gwen Araujo's or one of Moses Preston Waller, a case that I was familiar with back in my working days at the New York State Crime Victims Board have brought the ugliest manifestation of discrimination that transgendered people face, that of loss of life. A terrible price to raise the consciousness of the general public.

Teena Brandon was born in Lincoln, Nebraska a biological woman and moved to Humboldt later on where she reversed her name and presented himself to the public as Brandon Teena. It's what Brandon saw inside himself, what he felt to the depths of his soul. As a man he won and wooed a woman played in the film by Chloe Sevigny, but some of the redneck crowd Brandon hung out with suspected something afoot. Including some of Chloe Sevigny's relatives.

The brutal rape and killing of Brandon Teena is probably only comparable to the honor killings that are sanctioned by some extreme branches of Islam. It was as if their own honor, their own sense of masculine self was compromised by him even touching a woman. They reaffirmed their flagging masculinity with rape and purged the family of dishonor with a homicide. And they felt totally justified in doing it which is the real scary part.

When I was a kid of eleven I remember when it was a foregone conclusion that Susan Hayward would be an Oscar winner for I'll Cry Tomorrow. Years later it was also concluded for Jack Palance for Supporting Actor in City Slickers. The only other time odds weren't even given in an Oscar race for Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry. In the memory of most of the movie-going public this was something that just didn't happen. But Hilary Swank pulled something from the depths of her own soul, that's something seen a few times in a life when she played Brandon Teena.

For me, Boy's Don't Cry was a cathartic experience that I had never had before watching a film. It was brilliant, but terribly painful. I said at the time I probably would never see the film again, but I did in order to write this commentary. It was just as cathartic as before and even more so after the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance which I participated in my town of Buffalo, New York.

Hilary Swank, Chloe Sevigny and the rest of the cast and crew have made an enduring classic. This review is dedicated with reverence to the life of Moses Preston Waller who questioned the package God put his soul in and like Brandon Teena paid for those questions with his life at too young an age.

Awesome, frightening, sad, eye-opening flick about transgendered people in closed-minded, small town America

[danaf · 10/10 · 27 October 1999]

I was touched and stunned by this awesome work of art. "Boys Don't Cry" is the story of Brandon Teena's fight to be who he was, and his search for exactly how to get there. In Lincoln, NE..or Falls City, NE where he was murdered, no one around him, except his girlfriend offered support for who he was (-a young transgendered man who was born with the genitals of a female). He was scorned, ridiculed, raped, and ultimately murdered at age 21..just because he was a little different, and because tolerance for those who were different just isn't always part of small town life in Nebraska, USA.

>I haven't cried at a movie in several years, at least. I cried several times during the course of this powerful movie. See it. And when it comes to cable watch it. And when it comes to video rent it. And when it comes to DVD/video for sale, buy it. If it's on Pay Per View, order it.

Newsweek, The New York Times, and other serious publications have deemed this an amazing film, and how much more so an amazing FIRST film.

Tough-going, truly tragic drama

[moonspinner55 · 7/10 · 2 June 2002]

Difficult as an entertainment, but certainly worthwhile, this true story about a young woman with a gender-identity issue creeps forward to its preconceived conclusion with the unease of a bad stomach ache; there isn't a pleasant moment in it, but it is remarkable from an actors standpoint. Story of doomed Brandon Teena is retold with care and insight (although the climax was restructured for 'dramatic purposes'), and director Kimberly Pierce examines stifling small-town life in vivid and painful ways. It's not easy to sit through, but its impact stays with one for many days afterward. Hilary Swank gives a bravura, Oscar-winning lead performance; supporting cast is her equal. *** from ****

A moving film

[likklegothgirl · 10/10 · 25 October 2005]

I saw this film a few years back late at night on BBC2 (the time when all those unknown gems are shown) and was moved to tears. This movie has an amazingly talented cast, and the plot is perfect, it doesn't move too fast or too slow.

This is a film that will make you think, you can't help but start thinking about prejudice in the past decade, so much has changed, but a film like this reminds you that there is still much that needs to be improved.

To be honest, having read the description afterwards in the TV guide, i realised that the critic truly didn't do this film justice. Yes, it is shocking, and brutal and violent, and sure, you may want to turn away in certain scenes. But there are scenes that are so tender and beautiful that you won't be able to stop watching.

This is a film you won't forget once seeing, as it will hold a small place in your heart until the end of time. This is a film that will move you that much. This film will make you cry, again and again and again.

Enjoy.

Something missing

[sxjTheFirst · 6/10 · 6 July 2005]

When I saw the movie I was strangely untouched and I couldn't understand why. The film is near perfect: excellent acting, a daring storyline but quite surprisingly based on real incidents (real life can be more dramatic than drama at times). It seems to have everything going for it ... but for some reason I wasn't as affected by the movie as I was when watching say something like "Dog Day Afternoon" or "Girl, Interrupted" to refer to some similar movies. My brain keeps saying it's a great movie but the heart doesn't responds "well yeah ...guess it isn't bad". It must be one of those unexplained phenomena that I keep hearing about:) Maybe just maybe a little bit more of "soul" in the film would help or maybe I should see it again to get another perspective.It could be a movie you get used to ! There's something missing and I can't put my finger on it.

Boys Don't Cry - Exceptional Swank, Exceptional Movie

[Wilfred1 · 9/10 · 23 January 2005]

It's hard not to come back at posters who have given this film such a poor rating when this is clearly exceptional movie making. One wonders too whether some viewers were voting their personal discomfort with the protagonist's problems with sexual identity, rather than assessing a movie. Hilary Swank's is a truly exceptional performance: gut-wrenchingly real, winning you over with her stunning ability to create a living character that is so real one forgets that one is watching fiction. The fiction is merely apparent in this case. The writing and direction too is superlative. There are only 2 problems with Boys Don't Cry: 1) it is so convincing that it is truly upsetting to watch. 2) it's hard for Swank to go anywhere other than down in terms of performance. Having watched her last night in the also excellent Million Dollar Baby, attempting to assess her work for me is very difficult; one can't help comparing her performance to BDC and finding yourself thinking that she hasn't had to produce that much out of her locker. The fault is mine, I'm sure, not Swank's. In short, though, Boys Don't Cry, a film that got almost no release in the UK, is one of the most under-known and underrated movie in recent times.

CT

A bit perverse ...

[Vic_max · 6/10 · 31 August 2008]

This movies kind of fascinating to watch - but maybe not for the reasons the filmmakers intended. It basically about a lady masquerading as boy so she can pick up girls. She gets beat up a lot but continues the fakery - even when she gets involved with a low-income group of young people. The problem is, she's a bit out-of-control and they not a very tolerant group ... and the movie progresses from there.

There's really nothing new here that hasn't been extensively depicted in other similar stories (esp. Afr-Americans/Jews/Hutus/'obese'/handicapped). Intolerance is powerful and depressing ... and I'm left to wonder - what did I get out of this movie? Especially from watching a reckless gay lady mess around in a bad part of town ... Maybe it was to watch the battle of the stupid vs. the stupid.

Unless you've got to see Hilary Swank fully nude or are in the mood for watching oppression, there's not a strong reason to see this movie.

Audacious, painful and heartbreaking.

[MaxBorg89 · 10/10 · 26 April 2006]

This film could be easily dismissed, given its subject, as a "lesbian love story" or, as some called it, a "chick-with-a-d*ck-flick" (actually, that's what they said of Transamerica, but in a way it works for this one, too). Those definitions are disrespectful and very reductive. Boys Don't Cry is one of the most gripping and brutal dramas ever made, and it stands the test of time thanks to its audacity and its brilliant central performance, courtesy of the heartbreaking Hilary Swank.

Swank stars as Teena Brandon, a 20-year old girl from Lincoln, Nebraska, who's right in the middle of a "sexual identity crisis" (her own words). This crisis causes her some trouble with the law, and she decides to run away, more specifically to Falls City. Once there, she starts a new life, with a new name (Brandon Teen), a new haircut and socks down her pants. It's under these circumstances that she meets Lana (Chloe Sevigny), who will begin a passionate relationship with Brandon, unaware of "his" real nature. But what's gonna happen when the truth leaks out?

On the surface, Boys Don't Cry could sound like a simple "lesbian flick", but that would be like saying American History X is just about skinheads. True, this film is about love, but it's also a careful, unflinching study of identity, hope and fear. The last one plays a significant part in the third act, as some of the characters' (most notably John, cunningly played by Peter Sarsgaard) fear of something they don't understand will have tragic consequences.

Director Kimberly Peirce tells this painful true story without judging anyone, so that the performances can speak for themselves: Swank is staggering in a role rivaled only by her equally tear-inducing turn in Million Dollar Baby (she deservedly won an Oscar for both performances). She makes Brandon appear like a human being, not a freak, and that makes her story even more uncomfortable to watch in certain parts. The supporting players excel as well, Sevigny (who was Oscar-nominated for the role of Lana) and Sarsgaard delivering the first of many riveting contributions to independent cinema.

Consistently moving, occasionally hard to watch (there's a rape scene which might upset the weak of stomach), Boys Don't Cry is a daring, powerful effort that demands to be seen. And despite its title, it's very likely to make all audiences shed a tear, no matter the gender or inclination. This is a movie that won't leave you indifferent.

Strong, unpleasant--SPOILERS

[preppy-3 · 7/10 · 1 November 1999]

Graphic and VERY disturbing about a person born with both sexes. The female side is more developed but she/he chooses to live as a man. She falls in love with another woman, people discover her secret and all hell breaks loose. Based on a true story, this movie is very well-acted (especially Swank) and pulls no punches. Unfortunately, that also makes it very disturbing to watch. There's a rape sequence that's almost impossible to sit through, and some people walked out of the theatre I saw it in towards the end when it was clear she was going to be killed. I almost joined them! Still, I recommend it and find it great to see a movie that doesn't hold back. Just brace yourself for some truly horrific violence.

Pretty Snails

[daveisit · 5/10 · 22 January 2001]

This movie was pretty. Pretty well acted, pretty well written, pretty well directed, and pretty boring. Unfortunately the movie was slower than a baseball game being played by snails.

Maybe I was just depressed by the psychos in the small towns, and disappointed in Brandon's immature behaviour. Whatever the case, it's worth watching once, but the snails will be a more exciting prospect the second time round.