Boys Don't Cry is the independent drama released October 22nd 1999 starring Oscar winner Hilary Swank. The film had a budget of only $2,000,000 & grossed an estimated $11,533,945 but since its release it has gained somewhat of a cult status & I can see why. The film is rated 18 for reasons ... Read review
When Brandon Teena, a young man with an infectious, aw-shucks grin and an angelic face ... more
that's all angles, wanders into Falls City, Nebraska, he takes to the town as if it's a second skin. In little time he's fallen in with a gang of goofy if temperamen...
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In Falls City, Nebraska, Brandon Teena was a newcomer with a future, who had the small, ... more
rural community enchanted. Women adored him and almost everyone who met this charismatic stranger was drawn to his charming innocence. But, Falls City's hottest dat...
When Brandon Teena, a young man with an infectious, aw-shucks grin and an angelic face ... more
that's all angles, wanders into Falls City, Nebraska, he takes to the town as if it's a second skin. In little time he's fallen in with a gang of goofy if temperamen...
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The Best American Film of the Year! - Janet Maslin The New York Times. A true story ... more
about hope fear and the courage it takes to be yourself Boys Don't Cry is One of the 10 Best Films of 1999 (National Board of Review). Critically acclaimed and nom...
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The soundtrack to Boys Don't Cry--the true story of a young girl who assumed the identity ... more
of a boy to avoid the violence and crime of her past--includes everything from a haunting Bobby Fuller Four ballad ("A New Shade of Blue") to classic soul (the Isley Brothers' "Who's That Lady?") to revamped country (the members of X as their old-time country-band alter egos, the Knitters, performing Merle Haggard's "Silver Wings"). Also included are new tracks by 1980s power-poppers the Smithereens and Shudder to Think guitarist Nathan Larson. Even more remarkable is the sultry new duet between Larson and the Cardigans' Nina Persson. Even weirder is the first new track in 11 years from original New York punk rockers the Dictators (a traditional bar room romp called "What's Up with That?"), which recalls the solo work of Dictator Scott Kempner more than the band's firepower of old). Round things off with Texas legend and ex-13th Floor Elevator Roky Erickson and a good-ol'-boy Lynyrd Skynyrd tune, and you've got a solid programme without a bum steer (well, OK, just edit out Quicksilver Messenger Service's cover of "Who Do You Love?") --Rob O'Connor
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Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Drama - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Shelagh Fraser, Barbara Flynn, Keith Drinkel, Felicity Kendal, Pam Ferris, Colin Douglas
Advantages: Great acting, respectfully handled Disadvantages: Could be too shocking for some
Boys Don't Cry is the independent drama released October 22nd 1999 starring Oscar winner Hilary Swank. The film had a budget of only $2,000,000 & grossed an estimated $11,533,945 but since its release it has gained somewhat of a cult status & I can see why. The film is rated 18 for reasons that will become apparent later & runs for approximately 118 minutes.
Boys Don't Cry was directed by Kimberly Pierce who while attending Columbia ... ...& directing the film of Boys Don't Cry. Her most recent project is the 2008 film stop-loss starring Channing Tatum, Ryan Phillipe & Abbie Cornish which she directed.
I actually only got round to watching this film a couple of nights ago after borrowing the DVD from a friend quite some time ago. I'm really glad I did though, I watched it alone & for that I'm glad too as it's one of those films that you really get into & don't want ... more
Boys Don't Cry is the independent drama released October 22nd 1999 starring Oscar winner Hilary Swank. The film had a budget of only $2,000,000 & grossed an estimated $11,533,945 but since its release it has gained somewhat of a cult status & I can see why. The film is rated 18 for reasons that will become apparent later & runs for approximately 118 minutes.
Boys Don't Cry was directed by Kimberly Pierce who while attending Columbia she read an article about the brutal murder & was so intrigued that she actually travelled Falls City, Nebraska where she attended the trial of the two murderers. In 1995 she made a short film about the murders which eventually led to her developing & directing the film of Boys Don't Cry. Her most recent project is the 2008 film stop-loss starring Channing Tatum, Ryan Phillipe & Abbie Cornish which she directed.
I actually only got round to watching this film a couple of nights ago after borrowing the DVD from a friend quite some time ago. I'm really glad I did though, I watched it alone & for that I'm glad too as it's one of those films that you really get into & don't want distractions from, especially towards the end.
The lead star in this film is played by Hilary Swank, this is one of the reasons that I decided to watch this film along with the fact that I was told it was good. She's one of my favourite actresses, I loved her in Million Dollar Baby & Freedom Writers. She's a multiple Oscar winner & this film earned her her first Oscar for Best Actress at the age of 25. She has since gone on to win another Oscar for her performance in Million Dollar Baby where she played the tragic, struggling boxer Maggie Fitzgerald.
Boys Don't Cry is the chilling true story of a girl who feels more comfortable & confident dressed as a boy, she gets a girlfriend & when her girlfriend's friends find out that she is infact a girl they brutally rape & murder her by shooting her in the head at point blank range also shooting a man & a young mother in front of her child. The two men involved in the shooting were sentenced to death however they both appealed against this & continued to place the blame on each other.
Hilary Swank plays Teena Brandon who goes by the name of Brandon Teena. Brandon was born a girl but likes to identify as a man & it's stated by people involved in the case that Brandon had planned on having a sex change operation so that he could fully identify as a man.
After Brandon is evicted from his trailer by his cousin he meets Candace at a bar & after a fight erupts the two escape & Brandon is introduced to Candace's friends John Lotter (Peter Sarsgaard) & Tom Nissen (Brendon Sexton III).
Brandon ends up relocating to Falls City, Nebraska where he gets involved with the ex cons Lotter & Nissen & their friend Lana (Chloë Sevigny) who begins a relationship with him. When Brandon is jailed for forging cheques which happened before he relocated, Lana bails him out however as he is placed in the women's prison she questions him & he tells her he was born a hermaphrodite which of course is untrue. Lana accepts what she's told & tells Brandon she loves him no matter what he is.
Upon hearing about this Lotter & Nissen drag Brandon into the bathroom where they pull down his trousers to reveal that he is infact a girl. They forcefully drag Lana into the bathroom & hold her until she looks at her boyfriend. Later that night the two men chase Brandon, force him into their car & take him to a remote place where they take it in turns to brutally rape her. Afterwards Brandon turns up at Lana's house bruised, beaten & hysterical. Lana convinces Brandon to tell the police even after the two men told him that if he tells anyone they'll be forced to silence him completely. This happened on Christmas Eve 1993, the murder took place on New Years Eve 1993 after the two men had been interviewed by the police however the Sheriff had refused to arrest the men as there was 'lack of evidence' the rape kit that Brandon had done while at the police station was 'lost' & the Sheriff was more interested in Bradon's gender & sexuality than the actual crime that had been committed.
This is an incredibly powerful film & was one of those rare films that had me thinking about it afterwards enough to look up the incident on the internet. I'd highly recommend this film to anyone. It has a very strong storyline & there are some moments that are uncomfortable to watch but that's what makes this film so powerful. It is by no means a 'feel-good' film but is definitely a must see.
It was no surprise to me when I read that Hilary Swank picked up an Oscar for her role in this film as she's absolutely fantastic. She looks amazing too, the transformation from how she looks now to her role in Boys Don't Cry is incredible, she actually looks just like a boy. She was cast perfectly in this role. Chloë Sevigny was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Lana however she didn't win. She was brilliant in her role too & really deserved to win.
The acting really is first class in this film & with such a talented actress like Hilary Swank playing the lead role you'd expect it to be. I thought her role portraying Maggie Fitzgerald in Million Dollar Baby was undoubtedly her best role to date however after seeing her in this film I feel that her part as Brandon Teena far surpassed it. I really can't praise this film or Hilary Swank highly enough.
The only negative I have about this film is that is does take a while to get going & I feel the running time could have been a bit shorter however it is more than watchable & isn't dull like a lot of drama films I've seen. I usually tend to stay away from the drama category as the films tend to drag but this one didn't at all.
I later read that Hilary Swank prepared for the role by living life as a man for at least a month, this included wrapping her chest. She was so convincing that her neighbours claimed that they assumed that her brother was staying with her for a while. Swank also lied about her age after she was accepted for the part, she told director Kimberly Pierce that she, like Brandon was 21when infact she was 25. When confronted by the director her response was 'but that's what Brandon would do'.
Some details were changed in the film such as the murder scene. In reality there were three murders however in the film there was a double murder of Candace & of course Brandon. In reality Leslie Lamberts boyfriend Phillip Devine was shot dead on the couch aged only 19. He was completely absent from the film. The only survivor found at the house was Candace's baby boy.
The real Lana Tisdel sued the producers of the film for an undisclosed sum for invasion of privacy & unauthorised use of her name & likeness. She claims that the film was wrong in portraying that she continued her relationship with Brandon when she found out he was a girl.
The rape scene in the film had to be edited in the final cut as people had said that it was far too graphic for audiences even with it's 18 rating.
Boys Don't Cry is currently available as of today (7/2/09) for £4.99 from play.com. If you haven't seen this film yet I highly suggest that you do, either through purchasing it or renting it as it's a must see film that depicts an awful crime that could & should have been prevented.
The DVD contains many special features including; Audio Commentary From The Director Kimberly Pierce Featurette Trailer Teaser Trailer Three TV Spots Interactive Menu Scene Access
The soundtrack was released 11th November 1999 & includes; Nina Person / Nathan Larson - The Bluest Eyes in Texas The Bobby Fuller Four - A New Shade of Blue The Smithereens - She's Got a Way The Isley Brothers - Who's That Lady? The Charlatans - Codine Blues The Knitters - Silver Wings Quicksilver Messenger Service - Who Do You Love Lynyrd Skynyrd - Tuesday's Gone Roky Erickson - Haunt Nathan Larson - Dustless Highway The Dictators - What's Up With That? Timmy Thomas - Why Can't We Live Together?
The film won 40 awards and was nominated for 27 other awards including;
Academy Awards: Won: Best Actress in a Leading Role (Hilary Swank) Nominated: Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Chloë Sevigny)
Golden Globe Awards: Won: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama (Hilary Swank) Nominated: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Chloë Sevigny)
BAFTA Awards: Nominated: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Hilary Swank)
National Board of Review: Won: Breakthrough Performance - Female (Hilary Swank) Won: Outstanding Directorial Debut (Kimberly Peirce)
Satellite Awards: Won: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama (Hilary Swank) Won: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - Drama (Chloë Sevigny) Nominated: Best Picture - Drama Nominated: Best Director (Kimberly Peirce)
Advantages: Based on a real story, excellent performance [Hillary Swank] Disadvantages: Extremely dull and not engaging
Boys Don't Cry (1999)
[film only]
I heard so many things about the beauty of this touching film that I was really tempted to watch it, and I did that only recently. It represents the real story of a man who lives in a body of a woman called Teena Brandon. Because Brandon would have wanted people to refer to "her" as a male, I'll do so in this review. Since he gets into so much trouble with the police in his city, he travels to Falls City, Nebraska ... ...name Brandon Teena. There, he meets a young woman and they fall in love before she knows anything about his female body, which he hides with bandages or enlarges with a sock in the trousers. Unfortunately, because his lover used to be in love with an ex-convict, Brandon gets into trouble. His true identity is revealed brutally, he gets raped and bruised… and the rest is for you to find out. To begin with, I can't start telling you how magnificent ...
sottovoce82 10.02.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Boys Don't Cry (DVD)
...secret, and be understood. Boys Don't Cry is a bleak and emotional tale concerned with the subject of sexual identity. Brandon is a character that feels the need to dress like a man to match the inner self. To "him", he is not living a lie, despite having to disguise his physical appearance with various attire; it's society, on the whole, that has the problem accepting he is different from the norm. The gender distinctions are deliberately blurred ... ...their stories are true, but Boys feels like a real life drama right from the beginning -- and that's because it is. The film revisits the true events of Brandon's life: all the character names are true to their source, and despite the real Lana Tisdel suing the film's producers for depicting her as "lazy, white trash and a skanky snake", everything feels authentic (watch The Brandon Teena Story if you want to do some research). I knew nothing about ...
andycarrington 11.08.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Boys Don't Cry (DVD)
Advantages: Catches you unawares. Opens your mind to gender identity disorder. Disadvantages: Brutal. No comfort in saying 'it's only a film'. This happened.
I hate the fact that this is based on a true story. And if you don't particularly want to know what happens - don't read on (although I don't spoil the ending).
The troubled tale of a young girl who looks and feels like a boy and tries to live the life of a boy, ambles along for the first part, gently confusing the audience into wondering whether or not this pretty little cropped-haired boy on-screen is really a boy or a girl after all, as we watch ... ...middle America, sticking up for girls in bars and paying the consequences. Due in court in one week for some petty crime, his brother is at his wits end discouraging Teena 'Brendan' from acting gay and causing trouble and throws him out of the house. He meets a girl and her friend in a bar and heads out on an adventure, driving overnight so he wakes up not having the slightest clue of how he got to be so far away. He hangs out in the locality with ...
Discobunny 19.01.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Boys Don't Cry (DVD)
Advantages: Good Acting Disadvantages: Far too disturbing for most
This film is the most disturbing film I have ever seen, made worse by the fact it is based on a true story. I am sure there are films with much worse content, but to me this was truly gruesome and yet tragic.
It is all about a 20 year old lad trapped in a girls body, referred to as sexual identity crisis in the film. Born as Geena Brandon, he is known to all as Brandon. And I will refer to Brandon as a 'he' because I really felt that he was a male ... ...very convincing).
Brandon is due to go on trial for petty crimes. His brother is at the end of his tether with him due to the aforementioned crimes and the sexual identity crisis. Brandon spends much time in bars chatting up and defending girls. In one rather rough looking bar he meets a girl and is soon introduced to her even rougher bunch of alcohol and drug loving friends including 2 lads who are just plain physcho. Brandon temporarily lives ...
ElizaDanby 14.06.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Boys Don't Cry (DVD)
Advantages: Good Performance Disadvantages: Very repelling
...That's the area covered in Boys Don't Cry. A stomach of cast iron. That's what you need to watch it. Goose bumps. That's what you get while viewing it. The inescapable fact about movies based on true stories is that one can't shrug them off as a figment of someone's imagination. This is one reason this movie stays with you, haunts you. One can't help but wonder if the Indian audience can stomach a story that is so chillingly real and stark and, above ... ...director Kimberly Peirce's account of Boys Don't Cry, the tragedy of Brandon Teena assumes an understated and all consuming power. She shoots back country highways and displays a penchant for desolate and stark beauty. She is equally subtle with the actors, all of whom deliver naturalistic performances. Peirce exerts remarkable restraint on what could have been made sensational. She even finds the humanity in John and Tom, misfits from broken homes. ...
alicewatterson 28.04.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Boys Don't Cry (DVD)
Audio Commentary By Director Kimberly Peirce, Featurette, Original Theatrical Trailer Boys Dont Cry, Teaser Trailer Boys Dont Cry, 3 TV Spots, Scene Access, Interactive Menus
Aspect Ratio
1.85 Wide Screen, 16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Award information
OSCAR
Best Actress In A Leading Role 1999 (Hilary Swank)
Professional reviews
Review
"...An effective and emotionally powerful movie....Hilary Swank is superb..." (Box Office, p.153, 01/11/1999)
"...Carefully crafted and quite moving....Swank is truly worthy of all the awards..." -- 3 out of 5 stars (Premiere, p.96-98, 01/05/2000)
Ranked #7 in Rolling Stone's "Ten Best Movies of 1999" -- "...Hilary Swank's sensational performance is unique and unforgettable..." (Rolling Stone, p.63-4, 20/01/2000)
"...[Swank's] performance quickly takes off on a life of its own. The actor/role synergy ratchets up a movie that's already working to startling heights..." (USA Today, p.9E, 08/10/1999)
"...Compelling and relevant....[A] devastatingly powerful tale..." (Variety, p.61-2, 06/09/1999)
DVD Description
Peirce's directorial debut tells the gut-wrenching true story of Teena Brandon, a Midwestern female who disguised herself as a man. Relocating to Falls City, Nebraska, from Lincoln, she managed to convince her newfound group of friends that she was Brandon Teena. The film treats these events with a painful objectivism, as Brandon's relationships with her friends John, Tom, Kate, Candace, and Lana unfold toward their inevitably horrific conclusion. A shining example of independent filmmaking at its most impassioned.
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