Rating: 
Summary: The Big Lie at the Center
Review: This movie has a big lie at its center...here it is in summary: Teena Brandon was murdered because she used and deceived people - those people themselves being fellow criminals who were in and out of prison thus being a dangerous bunch in the first place - and she got caught and killed by them. It had little to do with the fact that she was a woman pretending to be a man. This movie tries to get you to believe the lie that she was murdered for her gender confusion, and thus it was a hate crime like the one Matthew Shepard was victim of, and not the truth that she was pretty much a criminal herself who got offed by fellow prison parolees, which though tragic is simply not the same kind of crime. As a movie it's merely OK with a few dry patches, though the director shows a lot of talent. I think she (the director) was limited by a mediocre script and a deeply flawed premise (see above). I look forward to her future work. My only other quibble with this movie is they clearly have a toddler in a scene where graphic violence is filmed. If we protect our animals from harm while using them to make a movie (as we should), how is it that we allow a movie crew to terrorize a tiny baby just to get a shot?
Rating: 
Summary: Swank triumphs in impassioned look at intolerance
Review: Boys Don't Cry is the movie that earned a Best Actress Oscar for Hilary Swank. Hers was a role few actresses could have played well, and she certainly deserves the praise she got, She has an interesting film career ahead of her. Call her a force to be reckoned Personally, I would have voted for Annette Bening in American Beauty. When I was a kid I, too, was mesmerized by actors playing odd, weird and/or flashy characters. Lately, I have come to the conclusion that playing a so-called normal character well and making that role unforgettable is much harder than it seems. This is a purely personal opinion and is not meant to lessen Ms. Swank's formidable talents in any way. The movie is the story of Teena Brandon [Swank], and, while some of the facts have been altered, it is a true story. Brandon was a troubled young girl from the Midwest who, in the early 1990s, decided that she should live her life as a boy. She wanted to literally change her sex. There is a tiny percentage of males who wish to become female in America, and, apparently, the number of women wanting to become men is even smaller. Teena Brandon became Brandon Teena. Outside of New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco, Brandon would have been considered an oddity, if not a threat. He, as I have come to think of Brandon, attempted to do it in an impoverished, backwoods setting, and the results were tragic. As a movie, Boys Don't Cry is the most impassioned plea for tolerance seen in a long time. It is difficult to watch it and not feel compassion for Brandon, if only because he was one of life's doomed souls. Ms. Swank portrays him as almost a ruffian, yet one who is essentially an innocent. Because the change [and the deception] works for Brandon, he honestly believes it should work for the people he meets. That is to say, since he accepts himself as a man, why can't others be fooled indefinately. He knows that people must not find out he is really a woman, but he does not think through how they might react if they do. Brandon winds up in a small town where he falls in love with Lana [Chloe Sevigney, nominated for Best Supporting Actress]. She's a nice enough girl. It's her family and her mother's friends who are dangerous. Lana can do little about her family, and Brandon turns a blind eye to potential problems. He does everything he can to ingratiate himself with them and is successful at first. I am trying not to give away too much of the plot here, but it is impossible to write even a bare-bones summary without evoking a sense of foreboding about the whole situation. It would also be unfair not to remark that Boys Don't Cry is brilliant but dark. It is both the most poignant and the most depressing movie of 1999. I highly recommend it, but warn you to prepare yourself for a heart-wrenching and soul-searching experience.
Rating: 
Summary: Shocking
Review: I know little about the real story of Teena Brandon, but, nonetheless, this is a great movie. I'm not sure, however, if I'd buy it. This is a movie that I've seen twice, and I thought once was enough. It's a hard movie to get through. The performances by each member of the cast are brilliant, the story moves quickly, the direction is teriffic, but the end and knowing that this is a true story make the movie hard to stomach. This movie will affect you. As a native of the Midwest, I've never seen such an accurate portrayal of smalltown USA and its assbackwardness in a movie before.
Rating:
Summary: Important stuff!!!
Review: When's the last time anyone dared to tackle such a subject? We already know that some of the details of Brandon Teena's life needed to be changed to make a concise and coherent film. There is no question that Brandon is not a nice person; he's a user, forger, thief, etc. Still, it's an interesting person around which Kimberly Peirce chose to center her first film. Certain elements of Brandon's life have been "abbreviated" but this was for the flow of the film's narrative. There is really no way anyone can fault Hilary Swank's brilliant performance. She was in practically every frame of the film; Chloe Sevigny brought out the sweetness and tenderness from Swank's character. She also personified the boredom of the lower class, mid-Western, stuck-in-a-rut, karaoke singing, girl at dead-end. There are people like this.It's frightening to think that previous reviewers don't believe it. It's a riveting film, and Hilary Swank gives one of the most courageous performances. Even if you don't believe the gender switch, Ms. Peirce's film is an important one.I love this film. There's ugliness, and it's dealt with appropriately. This IS a true story (edited for content), though a good display of red-neck culture. Most instructive. Most upsetting. Most enthrallng. Hilary deserved every award.
Rating: 
Summary: ultimately bogged down
Review: This movie wastes no time throwing you into the life of Teena Brandon, a confused girl from the Midwest with a "sexual identity crisis." Basically, she walks, talks, and acts like a boy, calling herself Brandon Teena. She wanders from bar to bar, "picking up" women. One night she gets drunk and ends up in a town hundreds of miles away from her home. She decides to stay because the people there completely embrace her as a man. She has guy-friends and girlfriends, and it's all she's ever dreamed of. Needless to say, the movie has an inevitable conclusion. It's based on a true story, and the filmmakers do not sugarcoat the brutal truth for anyone. Hillary Swank makes a complete mental and physical transformation into the life of Teena. Although she portrays a character that is difficult to identify with, she still gains the empathy of the audience. She gains that empathy, not only through Swank's portrayal, but also through the subtly engrossing script. The way that Brandon clings to titles like "sexual identity crisis" and the fact that girls call her the best boyfriend they've ever had are just a few of the subtle ways the script points out that Brandon has not completely shed her former life. She might be ashamed of it, but she also has that innate human desire to just be "normal." One thing that I appreciated about this movie was that everything--script, actors, and director--fit seamlessly together. The movie obviously deals with gritty, "edgy" material, and the film compensates for that in every arena. The director (first-timer Kimberly Peirce) employs a very original approach to her depiction of Brandon. She also achieves the impossible in not making me roll my eyes with her use of exposed film shots. Usually, this technique comes across as a director trying to impress, but the manner in which Peirce goes about it didn't make me induce vomiting, for some reason. As for the not-so-great parts of this movie, there were a few. For instance, every actor achieves their ultimate purpose, but, in my opinion, not much more than that. Swank is definitely more than adequate in her difficult role, but not amazing. She got her Oscar because she played a girl who wishes she was a guy trapped in a girl's body, not because of the way she handled it. Chloe Sevigny, who plays Lana Tisdel, Brandon's girlfriend through the latter half of the film, is a little stiff and hard to empathize with. The acting that impressed me came from the woman who played the small role of Lana's mom, Jeanetta Arnette. Since the movie is based on a true story but is ultimately a product of Hollywood (even though it's an independent film,) there are a few discrepancies between fact and fiction. This angers me because it's stupid to take artistic license with the truth. The movie basically just milks the concept of "white trash" a little too much. It comes across as trying too hard to make the audience squeamish. Some of it is gratuitous, like a sex scene between Brandon and Tisdel that didn't even occur. The graphic scenes that are true, such as Brandon's rape, are presented in an honest, no-holds-barred manner, but the fact that they're surrounded by screenwriter-manufactured occurrences waters the movie down.
Rating:
Summary: A Haunting Reflection on Hate
Review: "Boys Don't Cry" is one of those movies that can either leave you miserable and exhausted so that all you want to do is cry, or inspired and energized to go back out into the world and make a difference. In both cases, it succeeds at being a gritty, realistic indictment on a society that places the external and materialistic aspects of life above the inner spirit we all have within us. In doing so, it exposes the raw truth about a culture that has grown to hate, isnpired in part by the horrors we witness both at home, and at the movies. Hilary Swank is luminous in an Oscar winning performance that not only transcends gender but also identity. Her chilling Brandon Teena, raped, abused, taunted and despised for celebrating his own individuality and inner-beingness, is unforgettable. Chole Sivegny as the girl he charms with swagger and vulnerability, lends realism to an unflattering role that in someone else's hands could have been laughable. These star-crossed, ill-fated lovers ooze true love, far more than most of today's movie duos. As successful as the actors are in realizing their real life counterparts, the story, and its plot elements - all based on actual events - never fully do it justice. At times you feel you're watching a terrific documentary, and then you're transported to a Lifetime-television-for-women-movie-of-the-week. And if it's a terrific documentary you desire, rent or own the actual "Brandon Teena Story" which features an eerie soundtrack of the real Teena Brandon answering a detective's questions. The magic of this film is in the message, and ultimately, "Boys DOn't Cry" succeeds as an expose on the hatred our society has imparted on those who are different, or outside the norm. In doing so, it serves as a much needed testament for embracing our differences, celebrating our unique characteristics, and caring less about what others think of us and more about how we can change the world. Brandon Teena was no martyr, and certainly not a saint. But, in his short life, he made a difference by being who he was, and by allowing us a glimpse inside a full, rich heart. This film accomplishes many things on many levels, but nothing startles as much as realizing that we all have our secrets, longings, and passions though few of us ever have the courage to make them our reality, like Brandon Teena briefly did. Given the unprecedented events of September 11th and its aftermath, Brandon served notice years ago that society's hatreds had gone too far. As a document of life before 9-11, this is a MUST-HAVE film.
Rating:
Summary: Not a very good portrait of the real Teena Brandon!
Review: I had found the movie a bit boring and Hillary Swank didn't fool me at all about being a boy. Maybe it's coz I have seen her before on tv as a girl and I could not think of her as a guy. I didn't thought she looklike a guy. The movie is only base on the time she was in Falls City, when she meets Lana Teisdel, her friends and when she was rape and murder. I had wish to see more about Teena life before, about her family. I don't think this movie tell the real story of Teena Brandon, it was more fiction then anything. It's not a bad movie but it's not also a good one!
Rating:
Summary: Swank is spectacular
Review: This review contains spoilers. This indie movie pushed Hilary Swank into the limelight. Thankfully she proves that she is a lot better than 'The Karate Kid 2' and 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' (the movie) might suggest. Her fantastic performance is surprisingly unsentimental and in this immensely moving. There are few actresses that could take on this role but Swank is perfect, and a lot better than Annette Bening was in 'American Beauty' (finally, it's nice to see the award going to the right person). The fact that this was based on a real-life case makes it all the more poignant. The basic plot is of a young lady called Teena Brandon struggling with her sexuality, and so dresses as a male under the pseudonym Brandon. Her subsequent love affair with Lara (Chloe Sevigny) and tense meetings with her family make for difficult viewing. Admitedly, at the start the movie is intriguing but a little slow-moving. However, after the poignant affair between Brandon and his/her love Lara, it becomes entirely mesmerising. All the way through though, you're nervous because of Brandon's inevitable discovery. The rape scenes at the end are thankfully completely non-exploitive whilst certainly not lacking in horrifying drama. The fact that this betrayal is carried out by Brandon's supposed friends makes it all the more terrible. This isn't a movie that you'll want to watch again but it will definitely affect you greatly.
Rating:
Summary: haunting and necessary
Review: This film leaves one haunted and stunned. It is, perhaps one of the most 'real' films I have ever seen. Experienced, actually...felt, lived through.
Somehow, director Kimberly Pierce has created a world so starkly realistic, that one feels as if one is there. Hilary Swank is so very much Brandon, the character is...just IS. Chloe Sevigny astonishes as well. The entire cast simply 'live' their respective roles.
I find it odd that director Pierce was overlooked by the DGA in its nominations. The film is a cautionary, all too vivid portait/tale of our times. One does not easily forget, nor does one leave this film without, without a sense of awe, stunned disbelief and horror -- knowing how all too true the senselessness of ignorance remains, yet today. A must...for its lessons yet unlearned. A must for anyone who appreciates extroadinary talent, provoking thought and fodder for what the art of 'directing' and 'acting' CAN accomplish. Bravo and Beware...but 'see', 'learn' and not forget easily.
Rating:
Summary: This movie was awful
Review: I don't know whow the academy voted for Hillary Skank over Annette Bening for American Beauty. There was no contest in who gave the better performance - Annette bening in American Beauty - by a landslide. This movie is a "having-a-tooth-drilled-without-novocaine" experience. Spare yourselves the boredom. Valerie
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