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The Crying Game

The Crying Game

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: KEWL FLICK
Review: I am in the process of watching this movie again (for like the tenth time!). I am starting to memorize lines from it (that's when u know you've seen a movie in excess!). What I enjoy about this movie is the brilliant story and the brilliant acting that accompanies the screenplay.

I was mesmorized by Forrest Whittaker's performance as "Jody". (Terrific, let me say that again, TERRIFIC job on the accent Forrest!). I began to wonder as I was watching him, why he wasn't nominated for an Oscar? Gee Whiz, what a farce! It must be in the Oscar Commitees nature.

The whole movie is riveting, and all set to a killer score. The song "The Crying Game" has some of the most romantic and heartwrenching lyrics I have ever heard.

By the way, what the heck has Jaye Davidson been doing since "Stargate"?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Even if you know the surprise, see the movie
Review: I wanted to see the movie before I heard about the secret. The only reason I found out about the secret is because Jaye Davidson was in some ad in an unbuttoned shirt. (They shouldn't have released that ad so close to the movie). Anyway, knowing that made me be able to just enjoy the story, not the shock. I'm sure there was many a male who walked out and missed a rare treat. Jaye Davidson is truly a find. Jaye acts circles around other female actresses. Rea's performance was quiet and subdued and after seeing Forest Whitaker in this, you wonder why he wasted in time in some of his action flicks. The snake story was never told so movingly and accurately as told by the two leads.

The first you time you see it, it'll be for the shock. The second time you see it, you'll notice the theme of what you'll do for love and loyalty. None of the characters compromises or steers away from their loyalties, and for that you can give them credit, even the character played by Richardson (the least likable character of them all).

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Five-star movie on a one-start DVD
Review: No reason to repeat what others have said -- this movie is on my top-ten list.

But whoever did the DVD should be tied to a chair and forced to watch it. Bad focus, shimmers, and several times the sound disappears. It's the worst presentation of a movie on DVD I've seen (apart from a Dennis Hopper flick I got from the $4 bin at the grocery store). I suspect this is a result of the (bad) decision to cram both widescreen and TV versions on the same side of the disk.

This is a brilliant movie, and it deserves better.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Crying Game
Review: Wow. Wow. I saw this movie a few hours ago and I'm still awestruck. I usually hate romance movies, but this was so much more than that. The performances were amazing, absolutely amazing. Jaye Davidson and Stephen Rea gave two of the best performances in movie history, I kid you not. I think that the members of the Academy should all be taken out and beaten for overlooking them. They never give Oscars to those who deserve them, with a few exceptions. (Benicio Del Toro in Traffic comes to mind as someone who won AND deserved an Oscar. Then again, they gave the Best Actress to Julia Roberts. Blech!)
I have to go find Stephen Rea's other movies. I had only seen him in one other movie before this, and that was Interview With The Vampire. He is such a great actor. He's not particularly good-looking, but he has this magnetic presence. You just can't take your eyes off him. Whitaker had a small part, but he was flawless in every scene. As for Davidson, well... Just go watch the movie, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A deep , tender study on repressed human nature
Review: Somewhere in Northen Ireland , a group of IRA terrorists kidnaps a british soldier . One of it's members , Fergus gets to know the hostage and starts a friendship with him . In a moment of fear and insecurity , the soldier asks from Fergus to go to England if something bad happens to him and try to find his fiance Dil and see if she's alright . Some years later Fergus arrives to England and traces Dil in the haidresser Saloon where she works .

During the first half of the movie what we watch is probably themost melancholic , beautiful romance ever to be filmed . He's trying just to protect her yet instead he falls for her and at the same time feels guilty for flirting with the soldier's wife . She's haunted by the ghosts of the past and although every word and move of hers is full of confidence , she desperately needs some love and tenderness yet she's much too proud to let it show .

Then somewhere a little after the halfway mark the film has a twist which leaves the viewer speechless . From that point and after , the movie becomes more dramatic and intense . Neil Jordan's direction has that magic something called personallity . I have never seen a scene as atmospheric and sensitive as the one where Fergus cuts Dil's hair . The key element of this film though is it's actors . Stephen Rea and Jaye Davidson give spectacular perfomances without which the film would certainlty be a lot different . Love is the thing Dil needs the most and love is what this great film is all about .

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: LOVE CONQUERS ALL...AND I MEAN ALL!!!
Review: This is an outstanding and unusual film with a melange of issues. Forest Whitaker, Stephen Rea, and Jaye Davidson all give compelling and moving performances. Miranda Richardson also gives an absorbing performance as a hard nosed IRA terrorist.

The movie begins with IRA terrorists capturing a British soldier named Jodi, affectingly played by Forest Whitaker. One of the erstwhile terrorists, Fergus, sensitively played by Stephen Rea, is on the fringes of the terrorist group and assigned to guard the hapless Jodi. As they spend time together, a curious bond begins to form. Jodi, knowing that he will ultimately be executed, shows Fergus a photograph of his girlfriend, Dil, and extracts a promise from Fergus that he would let Dil know that Jodi was thinking of her at the last. Fergus reluctantly agrees.

When Fergus is finally ordered by his hard nosed IRA associates to shoot Jodi, he hesitates, and Jodi takes off running. Not wanting to shoot him in the back, Jodi manages to make it to a main roadway, where he is run over by a truck and killed. Fergus then deserts his terrorist buddies and goes to make good on his promise to Jodi.

When Fergus finds Dil, poignantly played by Jaye Davidson, she is working in a club and singing "The Crying Game". Fergus gives her a false name and insinuates himself into her graces, as there is a palpable attraction. They begin meeting, going out, and falling in love. Then, the moment of truth ultimately arrives, and Jodi is surely having the last laugh from the great beyond

Just when the viewer thiks that things cannot get any stranger, Miranda Richardson turns up, demanding that Fergus perform another act of terrorism in order to redeem himself for having failed so badly during his last foray into terrorism. To ensure his compliance, Richardson implies that Dil may be a target, should he not cooperate with the new scheme.

Fergus reluctantly agrees to participate in the IRA plot and commits himself to what is, in essence, a suicide mission. Dil, however, interferes with his plan at the eleventh hour, putting both herself and Fergus in danger of a retaliatory attack from Fergus' IRA buddies.

After his plan goes awry, all hell breaks loose. Suffice to say, true love does seem to conquer all. This is one terrific and unusual movie. --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: not great
Review: i liked this moviebecause it did have originality but the movie went by very slow. that's the only flaw.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A funny thing happened on the way to the assassination
Review: THE CRYING GAME teaches the lesson that terrorists have relationship problems just as messy as other folks.

Jody (Forrest Whitaker), a British soldier stationed in Northern Ireland, is ensnared in a honeytrap by Jude (Miranda Richardson), kidnapped, and held by Irish militants threatening his execution unless one of their own is released by the British authorities. One of Jody's captors is Fergus (Stephen Rea), who forms a sympathetic bond with his prisoner. At one point, Jody shares a photo of his significant other, Dil (Jaye Davidson), living in London, and exacts a promise from Fergus such that, in case he (Jody) is executed, Fergus will search out Dil and share drinks at the local pub. Jody fails to regain his freedom, but not for the obvious reason. In any case, Fergus ferries over to England and makes the acquaintance of Dil, a hairdresser, through the ruse of getting a haircut. An attraction develops between Fergus and Dil after the former helps the latter out of a tough spot with an overly aggressive male admirer.

I feel a smidgen of guilt for awarding THE CRYING GAME four stars instead of five since the clever screenplay unfolds as a series of unexpected events. The first half of the film culminates when Fergus is privy to a stunning revelation. However, from then on, even after Fergus's IRA colleagues arrive in London and coerce him into another attack on the establishment, the pace of the film seemed relatively languorous as both Fergus and Dil come to grips with, um, issues. I was left marveling at the mess into which Fergus had gotten himself. The conclusion seemed positively anticlimactic, although justice was served and dues paid all around.

Rea is effective as Fergus, though his perpetually sad, hangdog look wouldn't garner him the Charming Boyo of the Year award. The film's best acting job is by Davidson as the emotionally tormented Dil, and an Oscar should have arguably been won for that performance.

If one believes that life is a comedy, then THE CRYING GAME is surely dark humor, though I suspect the film's makers didn't intend it to be. I guess it depends on one's sense of irony. The pleasure of the viewing experience is ultimately in traveling down paths completely hidden during the first thirty minutes of screen time. THE CRYING GAME will leave you muttering to yourself after you've left the theater.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Great movie... lousy DVD transfer.
Review: Such a great flick, but the DVD transfer is poor.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Great movie, bad presentation on DVD
Review: This is truly a great film. However, you have to view it with distracting shimmerings and other irritations here. Did no one take a look at this DVD before releasing it? If not for the widescreen, I'd prefer my VHS.


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