Boys Don't Cry
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Movie Reviews of Boys Don't Cry
Movie Review: A Brutal Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
This film recounts the final days in the life of Brandon Teena born Teena Brandon, a young woman posing as a man to live the life she knew she should. The fact that this is a true story resonates deep and makes watching this film all that much more gripping and then heart breaking as it spirals towards its brutal final frames. Brandon (Swank in a riviting performance) moves to Nebrasca to start her life over, getting involved with all the wrong crowd and falling in love with the wrong girl (Chloe Sevigny who just does brilliantly here), a girl once involved with the town bad@$$ played by Peter Sarsgaard in yet another Oscar snubbed performance. Brandon befriends all of these people, even residing with some of them, until her secret is revieled and her life is tragically changed. The acting in this film carries it to the next level by making you feel emotions you would never feel otherwise. It's heartwrenching as you expirience life through this womans eyes and see what she sees, feel what she feels and watch as her life comes smashing down on her. I think we take our lives for granted when we live simple excepted lives, lives that never get a frown or a dirty look or a comment behind our back, or in the case of Brandon Teena, a bullet in the chest. We just go on living and never give it a second thought. I feel that whether you agree with the live choices that Brandon/Teena made her story will still resonate deep because she did what she believed she should and was judged unjustly for that. She never deserved what she got and yet she didn't have a say in the matter. I cried like a baby at the end of this tragic film, as I think anyone with a heart will.Movie Review: Positively brilliant
Summary: 5 Stars
This film blew me away. It was painfully honest and brutal; two qualities, sadly, missing from most American films. This is riveting film making and one that delivers its punches with a true sense of drama and uncompromising integrity, never willing to shy away but, also, never willing to sink to the lowest denominator for the sake of shock value. Teena Brandon (a.k.a. "Brandon Teena") was the victim of crime but she is never portrayed as a pitiable creature. Hilary Swank and Director Kimberly Peirce steer clear of the leaden approach to tragedy so often adopted by most filmmakers. They elicit from the viewer a sense of compassion and understanding without delving into cheap sentimentality, vulgarity and horror. The end result is a positively brilliant film, which stirs passion and, even perhaps, ignites rage, yet, all the while, leads one to wonder how it is possible that in this day and age such a tragedy could have transpired. The desolate location and simple and straightforward camera work keep the film grounded and real, yet the intelligent script, direction and flawless performances by EVERY SINGLE actor raise this film to incredible heights and, ultimately, serves more as an exercise in psychological terror than it does a mere drama. A veritable kick in the stomach after effect will ensure that even the most jaded and desensitized viewer will never forget this frightening tale of homophobia, ignorance and fear run amuck. An unforgettable film, indeed. One finally note: Chloe Sevigny was seriously ripped off. That Oscar should have been hers, not Angelina Jolie's.Movie Review: Frustration
Summary: 5 Stars
I was at first puzzled that director Kim Peirce had placed Lana at the murder scene, but I realized later that it was her way of showing Lana's love for Brandon. Lana never felt deceived even as Brandon, standing in his jail cell fully aware there is nothing he can say or do to hide the fact that he is a woman, looks painfully into her eyes to hear her say, "I don't care." In their own way, it was a cheerful, loving moment of their relationship. Only the audience knew the doom; to Brandon and Lana, it was the beginning.The killings were unjustifiable, but I really felt compassion for the two killers. They weren't anonymous or cold, they were human beings like Brandon, struggling to find their own identities. Peirce painted a vivid picture of their dead-end lives, forgotten just for a moment through alcohol and drugs. The time-lapsed cinematography of the smoke billowing from the factories, the clouds flying through the sky, the characters seemed suspended helplessly in their personal hell.
Even as Brandon is savagely raped, we're not asked to feel pity for Brandon, nor anger at the rapists who were once his friends. It was a venting of the frustration of their inability to be what they don't know how -- that only Brandon was able to do -- be loving. From their broken homes, respect for women, or even for themselves, was never on the list.
Boys Don't Cry. I didn't cry, but I knew deep inside my heart, I was crying for Brandon, Lana, John, and Tom, and the two innocent victims. It will never be the same.
Movie Review: Powerful disturbing movie
Summary: 5 Stars
Boys Don't Cry is a powerful movie. I personally was seriously depressed for days after watching it. Kimberly Pierce does a great job of making you feel sympathy for the main characters. What I enjoyed about this movie is that it is not a preachy film aimed at hyping transgenderism, but more of tragic love story about unconditional love. It's a very powerful dramatization based on actual events. After reading the book "All She Wanted" and watching the documentary "The Brandon Teena Story" I can say the real story is very muddled and know one seems to be sure exactly what happened. The movie is more black & white. I think Kimberly Pierce wanted to keep viewer's sympathetic towards Brandon and Lana. I prefer "Boys Don't Cry" to the book or documentary, because it leaves no questions unanswered. Questions as to who was involved with what. What you have is a heart-wrenching movie that stay's with you. Alot of that is do to the acting. I've read review's that people have written actually criticizing Hilary Swank's performance. Well I'll tell you they're wrong. Swank's performance is amazing. She deserved every award she got, and her performance is one the reasons this movie is so powerful. The only complaint I have about Swank is that she just a little to pretty and feminine in her appearance, nonetheless I could not see anyone else in this role. Actually all the acting is incredible. The movie is very well done.Movie Review: Disturbingly good
Summary: 5 Stars
This is another of those movies that makes you quiet and lost in your thoughts. Its a true life story of Brandon Teena, a person with a sexual identity crises and how she tries to deal with the awkward situations that she faces. Boys Dont Cry is definitely a movie to be seen, for it addresses some rather serious issues, not by focusing on them, but by focusing on the trials and tribulations of this poor confused soul.
Hilary Swank has acted brilliantly, her expressions of joy, sorrow, hope, frustation, fear, excitement, confusion, shame, regret.... all these are played to near perfection, giving the character of Brandon Teena such lifelike feel, that one is amazed to "return-to-reality" when the movie ends. The movie also exposes the darker side of relationships & is an indictment on society's callous attitude and holier-than-thou hypocrisies. And it is in managing this dichotomy so well, that the movie clearly scores nad is disturbing.
I would be dishonest to say that frequently, my own biases came to the fore & I realized my own conditioned thinking, but then as this story progresses, I keep feeling ashamed at my views and wonder how the many who undergo such issues deal with them & thats where the movie is disturbing : For it portrays reality with a certain stark-nakedness with ones own opinion as the canvas on which reality plays itself out.
This is a brilliant movie & a hard story with some screenplay & sets. Definitely worth a watch.