Boys Don't Cry
|
List Price: Our Price: $5.97 You Save: $9.01 (60%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $4.91 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Canada
Movie Reviews of Boys Don't Cry
Movie Review: A surprising story...
Summary: 5 Stars
They said on TV that this film was based on a true story and that immediately made me think that someone in this film will have to die. So I was prepared for that, but I was really quite surprised in terms of how the story developed. Usually when this type of film is made the main character would have left earth suddenly and too early. You feel really upset after seeing it and all the injustice made against this particular person and that hasn't been made right under their time here with us, living, breathing.This film however left me feeling comforted for his/her person and what he/she was given from his/her girlfriend. At the same time it rightfully disturbed my mind, in that way that you think such a thing should never have happened and how long will it take us humans before we learn to not interfere with other peoples right to themselves and being they way that suits them? Of course on terms where it doesn't hurt anybody else. Sure, you could argue that the perpetrator in this case was actually hurt, but no you don't get to go around hurting others because of your own hearts sorrow due to another not wanting the same as you...
As for the acting on Hilary's part - it's a piece of art! You would have to work real hard to make such a convincing portrait, she's brilliant.
Hilary and this unusual development of the story makes it well-worth seeing.
Movie Review: "Hilary Swank Is Outstanding"
Summary: 5 Stars
"Boys Don't Cry" tells the true tale of Brandon Teena, a girl suffering from sexual identification disorder: she was born an actual female, but desires to be a guy through sexual reassignment surgery. The plot follows Brandon as "he" enounters a lot of trailer trash-type individuals, and the story concludes with Brandon being raped by two men who he associated with who learned Brandon was actually a girl. These two men eventually murder Brandon. The film is harrowing, yet truthful and is one of those rare American movies that shows the hatred against those that are different or are perceived to be abnormal. The film broke during the time Matthew Sheppherd was murdered, and as a result many were curious to view "Boys Don't Cry". Hilary Swank desevedly received the Oscar in 1999 for Best Actress in a Motion picture. For those who enjoyed "Boys Don't Cry" NBC released "The Matthew Sheppherd Story", so if you happen to come across it on televison viewings I would suggest in watching it: it too is an excellent film about the hatred that gays can be faced with. That film has never been put on DVD yet.
"Boys Don't Cry" was an independent film that found its way into the mainstream through word-of-mouth. It costs over two million to make but grossed over $11,000,000 at the boxoffice. The DVD comes with an excellent commentary by the director of the movie.
Movie Review: Powerful, flawed, moving, beautifully acted.
Summary: 5 Stars
Boys Don't Cry garnered excellent reviews across the board, so it was with incredibly high expectations that I walked into the theatre. As it turns out, I think I held this film to much higher standards than usual and found some problematic areas.That said, I still find Boys Don't Cry to be a powerful, touching, and harrowing story of misunderstanding, ignorance, and love, with one of the most powerfully Quixotic characters to have graced the screen in ages. Hilary Swank and director Kimberly Peirce chose the right approach by exploring thoroughly the joy Brandon experiences at his/her own transformation, making the tragedy at the end a moving experience. Dramatically the film sometimes gets too heavy-handed and it is the light-fingered moments (Chloe Sevigny's Lana lying in bed with girlfriends thinking back to her first seduction by Brandon; Lana and Brandon sharing the excitement of moving away; Brandon watching Lana sing karaoke) that really shine.
The film does show off technically, with a flashy editing style, unsubtle use of music and, again, moments that are almost delirious in their heavy-handed presentation of events and characters. However, Boys Don't Cry still manages to stand on its own thanks to the utter sincerity of the performances, total sympathy with its characters, and thematic depth.
Movie Review: In no way enjoyable, but entirely engaging...
Summary: 5 Stars
For years I hesitated every time I passed this movie in the video store. Was I ready to be emotionally assaulted? Convicted? Humbled? But finally, I was... and indeed, I was, yes, assaulted, convicted, and humbled.*Assaulted* by feelings of injustice, feelings of rage toward ignorance and cruelty suffered by the story's heroes.
*Convicted* by the fact that my lack of education on issues from which I personally don't suffer (in this case, gender identity crises) could make me appear indifferent to intolerance.
*Humbled* by the realization that, though I seek to broaden my views, there is always more compassion to be instilled and lessons to be found in examples I never considered could relate to me.
A person doesn't have to relate with gender identity issues to be affected by the weight of a film that so successfully entreats its viewers to recognize the injustice of prejudice. Though it may seem fairly simple - a true story in which a girl is victimized once by her own psyche and again by the fear of her lover's kin - "Boys Don't Cry" is an understated masterpiece. Through raw and real script-writing and acting, it ultimately serves to demonstrate the damage done by a community fueled by fear, pride, ignorance and hatred rather than by understanding, compassion, education, and at the very least, tolerance.
Movie Review: certainly one of the best
Summary: 5 Stars
You don't have to be middle-class or trailer trash to relate to Brandon Teena's story. His horrific experience, so masterfully captured by Kimberly Pierce, transcends class and gender. It's a story of finding oneself, finding one's second half (Lana, in Brandon's case), and being at peace with one's self in the face of ignorance and bigotry. It's dark, brooding, tense, but the sad events in everyone's lives demand no less than a realistic and gritty treatment. In addition to Swank and Sevigny's exceptional performance, I commend the two actors who bravely took on the roles of Brandon's killers. They've done as good a job as the women, and I find it a shame that they weren't acknowledged in any of the past film awards.One doesn't watch this movie to relate to the characters in class or other background, but rather to understand or to be enlightened by their experiences. One doesn't have to be someone outside of a private school for rich, brainy girls in Connecticut to feel for Brandon. And one certainly doesn't have to expect European actresses of classic beauty to give life to Brandon's character. Such a way of thinking is so absurdly elitist and certainly has no place in judging a film as terribly moving as Boys Don't Cry. Beter save it for an artsy, snotty foreign film instead.