Rating: 
Summary: alex d linz great as always
Review: alex d linz is my fave kid actor and here he shines in a role where he plays a boy who likes to were dresses.the boy bruno thikns of them a reglous vestments. this mvie explores brunos problems at school and with his father. i thought all the perfomances where grat. the only problem i had was that the dvd could have use dsome extras.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Drama with a Message Directed by Respected MacLaine
Review: Bruno (Alex D. Linz of "Home Alone 3") is a boy in a Catholic school. Other boys, however, always picks on him, and his superior nun (Kathy Bates) is not particularly kind to Bruno and his mother, considering them just another troublemakers. And his estranged father (Gary Sinise), a local policeman now dating with another girl (Joey Lauren Adams, "Chasing Amy") avoids his ex-wife and son, also thinking them as a disgrace when one day Bruno is hit by a car, sent to hospital, and found ... wearing girl's dress. The last point represents the message of this film directed by Shirley MacLaine, who also appears as Bruno's grandmother. (This is her debut as a director of feature-length film though she once co-directed a documentary film "The Other Half of the Sky" in the past.) A boy Bruno loves wearing girl's clothes, and he finally shows the people around him that to be different is OK. Alex D. Linz portrays Bruno's gradual recognition of his true self-esteem with charm, and Shirley MacLaine, as always, shows her gifted comic sense as his plucky grandmother who comes to understand him. Though I found Gary Sinise overacting, trying to give stress on father's anguish, the acting is uniformly good, including newcomer Stacey Halperin playing Bruno's "Diva" mother. There is also a cameo appearance of Jennifer Tilly, but it was a too short one for me as Joey Lauren Adams's. The film proves that Shirley MacLaine has a talent as a director, always keeping the ball rolling, but at some places the film suffers from its inefficient script that clearly needs re-writing. Some viewers might feel dismayed at the negative descriptions of the teaching nuns, one of them played by Kathy Bates, who, after Bruno was picked on in school, unaccountably preaches and scolds Bruno, not his bullies. And that happens more than once, which makes me wondering why his mother doesn't think of sending him away from such a horrible place. But the film's has a more fundamental problem with the way of presenting Bruno's wish of wearing girl's clothes, which is not developed enough to convey the fiim's precious message. At one place, Bruno narrates that he watched a dream of being chased by angels, and clad in white, he insists in front of the angry superior nun that what he is wearing is holy vestment. But later he is dressed in a cowgirl costume, which confuses the point he made before. Does he just want to be dressed like a girl? Or an angel, which he sees several times in his visions? This could be a minor thing if I didn't see an European film dealing with the same topic, Alain Berliner's "Ma Vie en Rose," which, with all respect to Ms MacLaine's work, should be considered better made. As a whole "The Dress Code" is a promising work from a respected actoress, whose name, however, deserves a little better treatment of the theme. "The Dress Code" was given a theatrical (though limited) release in Japan in 2001 with its original title "Bruno," prior to American release.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Drama with a Message Directed by Respected MacLaine
Review: Bruno (Alex D. Linz of "Home Alone 3") is a boy in a Catholic school. Other boys, however, always picks on him, and his superior nun (Kathy Bates) is not particularly kind to Bruno and his mother, considering them just another troublemakers. And his estranged father (Gary Sinise), a local policeman now dating with another girl (Joey Lauren Adams, "Chasing Amy") avoids his ex-wife and son, also thinking them as a disgrace when one day Bruno is hit by a car, sent to hospital, and found ... wearing girl's dress. The last point represents the message of this film directed by Shirley MacLaine, who also appears as Bruno's grandmother. (This is her debut as a director of feature-length film though she once co-directed a documentary film "The Other Half of the Sky" in the past.) A boy Bruno loves wearing girl's clothes, and he finally shows the people around him that to be different is OK. Alex D. Linz portrays Bruno's gradual recognition of his true self-esteem with charm, and Shirley MacLaine, as always, shows her gifted comic sense as his plucky grandmother who comes to understand him. Though I found Gary Sinise overacting, trying to give stress on father's anguish, the acting is uniformly good, including newcomer Stacey Halperin playing Bruno's "Diva" mother. There is also a cameo appearance of Jennifer Tilly, but it was a too short one for me as Joey Lauren Adams's. The film proves that Shirley MacLaine has a talent as a director, always keeping the ball rolling, but at some places the film suffers from its inefficient script that clearly needs re-writing. Some viewers might feel dismayed at the negative descriptions of the teaching nuns, one of them played by Kathy Bates, who, after Bruno was picked on in school, unaccountably preaches and scolds Bruno, not his bullies. And that happens more than once, which makes me wondering why his mother doesn't think of sending him away from such a horrible place. But the film's has a more fundamental problem with the way of presenting Bruno's wish of wearing girl's clothes, which is not developed enough to convey the fiim's precious message. At one place, Bruno narrates that he watched a dream of being chased by angels, and clad in white, he insists in front of the angry superior nun that what he is wearing is holy vestment. But later he is dressed in a cowgirl costume, which confuses the point he made before. Does he just want to be dressed like a girl? Or an angel, which he sees several times in his visions? This could be a minor thing if I didn't see an European film dealing with the same topic, Alain Berliner's "Ma Vie en Rose," which, with all respect to Ms MacLaine's work, should be considered better made. As a whole "The Dress Code" is a promising work from a respected actoress, whose name, however, deserves a little better treatment of the theme. "The Dress Code" was given a theatrical (though limited) release in Japan in 2001 with its original title "Bruno," prior to American release.
Rating: 
Summary: This movie inspires Courage
Review: I have long hair; I have sired three children. I shave my legs; I smoke a pipe. I wear skirts, but I am a man. I am not gay (sexuality is an afterthought, if anything). I envision myself as the ideal of the marble statue of a Greek hero, Michaelangelo's "David," or perhaps Donatello's. I am not a freak; I am unique. I am an individual and I am not afraid. Thank you, Shirley MacClaine and David Ciminello (I hope I spelled that right).
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie
Review: I have seen this movie several times and purchased it as gifts for friends several times. This movie has all the pathos of New York City people with their quirks, heartbreaks and growth through understanding. It depicts how one child can change his world when there is a need to change it. The movie is filled with comedy and pathos. It has quite a group of renowned stars such as Gary Sinise, Brett Butler, and of course Shirley MacLaine. It is worth watching again and again as each time you see it, you will learn a little more about human nature!
Rating: 
Summary: A Study of Human Sorrow
Review: I rate this film two stars, mostly because of the outcome, artistically, it would be higher. Therefore, let me acknowledge these creative qualities first: "Dress Code" is a film of contradictions: the black girl has the vanilla cone while the white boy has chocolate, the grandmother is "butch" and the grandson is "sissy", the boy wears a dress while the girl goes around with two guns and a cowboy hat. These contradictions remind one of a Jerry Lewis film, and Shirely McClain certainly comes from his era. They might have "been done" before, but they are freshly done. The film opens grandly with illustrations of different types of human sorrow and how that sorrow isolates each individual. The Mother is overweight and children laugh at her. The grandmother is brutish. Her son--a cop--fears he is a "sissy" for enjoying opera. Finally, the main character prefers drag, because he has no identity with his father, only with his mother. What I was hoping to see in this picture was a healing of these disorders:
The father loving the son and the son leaving behind dresses, the mother thinking more of herself and taking care of her body for the sake of herself and child. Indeed, it is only the grandmother who grows at the end, because she is able to love a child that--in the beginning--she did not fully accept as her grandson. Furthermore, the attack on the Church (I speak here not just to the Catholic Church but what the film dubs "The Religious Right") is tired and plays into a stereotype that has about as much truth to it as any generalization on a particular people group. I might recommend this viewing for the comedy and for the illustrations of human suffering (caused by sin--either one's own, or in the case of the boy, another's), but I would not share the moral: "make your dysfunction work for you".
Rating:
Summary: A Study of Human Sorrow
Review: I rate this film two stars, mostly because of the outcome, artistically, it would be higher. Therefore, let me acknowledge these creative qualities first: "Dress Code" is a film of contradictions: the black girl has the vanilla cone while the white boy has chocolate, the grandmother is "butch" and the grandson is "sissy", the boy wears a dress while the girl goes around with two guns and a cowboy hat. These contradictions remind one of a Jerry Lewis film, and Shirely McClain certainly comes from his era. They might have "been done" before, but they are freshly done. The film opens grandly with illustrations of different types of human sorrow and how that sorrow isolates each individual. The Mother is overweight and children laugh at her. The grandmother is brutish. Her son--a cop--fears he is a "sissy" for enjoying opera. Finally, the main character prefers drag, because he has no identity with his father, only with his mother. What I was hoping to see in this picture was a healing of these disorders:
The father loving the son and the son leaving behind dresses, the mother thinking more of herself and taking care of her body for the sake of herself and child. Indeed, it is only the grandmother who grows at the end, because she is able to love a child that--in the beginning--she did not fully accept as her grandson. Furthermore, the attack on the Church (I speak here not just to the Catholic Church but what the film dubs "The Religious Right") is tired and plays into a stereotype that has about as much truth to it as any generalization on a particular people group. I might recommend this viewing for the comedy and for the illustrations of human suffering (caused by sin--either one's own, or in the case of the boy, another's), but I would not share the moral: "make your dysfunction work for you".
Rating:
Summary: WONDERUL FILM!
Review: I saw this film on HBO, or Showtime...one of those channels and thought it was just the sweetest film. Alex Linz is just too adorable and is a wonderful actor. He plays a young boy who wears dresses, but to him they are "holy vestments". His mother, a flamboyant 450 pound woman nursing a broken heart, is loving and understanding. His grandmother, played by a VERY manly Shirley Maclaine,who also directed this film, thinks both son and mother are crazy. She soon falls under the boys charms and encourages him the way she never did with her own son, the boys wayward father, played by Sinese, in a very small but important role. I love the performances in this movie. It seems that the actors are having a wonderful time and it comes across in their acting. The characters are very real and genuine. It is a bit "Afterschool Special"ish, but the strong cast and performances carry it home.
Rating:
Summary: WONDERUL FILM!
Review: I saw this film on HBO, or Showtime...one of those channels and thought it was just the sweetest film. Alex Linz is just too adorable and is a wonderful actor. He plays a young boy who wears dresses, but to him they are "holy vestments". His mother, a flamboyant 450 pound woman nursing a broken heart, is loving and understanding. His grandmother, played by a VERY manly Shirley Maclaine,who also directed this film, thinks both son and mother are crazy. She soon falls under the boys charms and encourages him the way she never did with her own son, the boys wayward father, played by Sinese, in a very small but important role. I love the performances in this movie. It seems that the actors are having a wonderful time and it comes across in their acting. The characters are very real and genuine. It is a bit "Afterschool Special"ish, but the strong cast and performances carry it home.
Rating:
Summary: A Small Charmer
Review: This film was a very pleasant surprise. Not having seen it, I purchased it on the strength of its cast. The film's success rests on the small shoulders of its lead character. Alex D. Linz proves, as he did in HOME ALONE 3, to be an absolutely charming presence. The scene in which he explains his lack of fear of dying to his grandmother is a gem. The film itself is a little unsteady at the beginning and, at 108 minutes, is a bit overlong, but, once it gets going, the story is filled with wonderful, quirky characters. It bears a passing resemblence to the Belgian film MA VIE EN ROSE ("My Life in Pink"), which is also recommended viewing.
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