Boys Don't Cry (1999)

hyped garbage

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Powerful, terrible, true. This is the story of a boy who was full of love but could not live because the world was too full of hate. Every performance is subtle and heartfelt. Perhaps the casting would be considered problematic now, but please consider that in 1999, Hilary Swank wasn't a big movie star looking for an attention-getting role. She was a serious actress given the then almost nonexistent to work on something deeply powerful about an oppressed community, and she put her whole self into it. The writing and directing are so empathetic, this is a shining achievement in the pantheon of queer cinema.

This movie directed by Kimberly Peirce, dramatizes the tragic events that took place in December 1993 in Lincoln, Nebraska and made news headlines around the nation. This film follows 21-year old girl named Teena Brandon (played by Hilary Swank) who lives with her cousin Lonny (played by Matt McGrath) in Lincoln, Nebraska. Sporting a short hairstyle, platted shirt, jeans, and some boots, Teena adopts a male identity and goes under the 'Brandon Teena'. He begins living his life as a boy and travels to a small of Falls City, Nebraska where he attempts to true love and falls in love with beautiful girl named Lana Tisdel (played by Chloe Sevigny). Making an effort to keep his true gender a secret, Brandon ventures his nights through drinking, sex, and street racing with Lana and her friends Candice (played by Alicia Goranson), John Lotter (played by Peter Sarsgard), and Tom Nissen (played by Brenden Sexton). However, when everyone soon discovers he is hiding his true gender, his life makes a turn for the worse and his relationship with Lana is deeply put to the test. The title of the film is taken from 'Boys Don't Cry" by the rock band The Cure.This film tackles on some heavy subject matter about transgender and the story is very thought-provoking enough for viewers raise questions dealing with the subject matter, especially since this is based on events that happened in real life. Director Kimberly Peirce and the writers with the story as well as the characters very genuine and maturely, and I think it pays a good tribute to the real-life story of Teena Brandon. The characters are beautifully written, the main character Brandon Teena (or Teena Brandon) in particular, and the story really comes to life by an amazing, if not excellent script. Hilary Swank's performance is nothing short of fantastic, she really brings such light to her role and viewers can tell that she is really committed to the role. The fact that she won an Oscar for her performance is no surprise. The rest of cast did quite a credible job as well. Then the story moves pretty good throughout its the film's run and manages to stay intriguing for the most time. The first half of the film is very light-hearted and soft-spoken, then the second half gets quite powerful and upsetting in tone. As the themes of the film are heavy, there are some scenes that get quite poignant and aggressively uncomfortable to watch, especially for viewers who have dealt with similar situations. But overall, this film really honest and grounded in a way where viewers are able to connect with the characters and the story. The only real flaw with the film is that it fails to explain the reason behind the Brandon's transgender or her background that gives hints as to why she adopted a male identity to begin with.Boys Don't Cry is a powerful and thought-provoking. The performances are amazing and the writing is quite awe-inspiring. This is a film that is important to watch, but something I would only recommend to mature viewers due to the intense subject matter and tone that not all viewers could handle too easy.

This movie is terrible. Terrible in a good way: great actors, great plot, but when you realize that everything could be real, this creeps you out. As a girl always dressed up and acting like a man (not a trans man though) and living in a conservative community, I have added this movie to my watch list a long time ago. Former friends of Brandon, the lead character of movie, raped and killed him, because he was a trans and he lied them. It's hard to accept that story is based on a real life, but bullying of LGBT people was real. And it's still real. Hilary Swank was great as Brandon, but it was obvious for me that she wasn't guy. She looked like a girl in a boy's clothes and even voice was girl like, so I do't believe that everybody could think that he's a boy. And, yes, boys cry. They cry hard.

I can't tell you how distraught I am when I saw the rape scenes of a poor innocent person assaulted by two disgusting beasts that need to be tied to an electric chair. I can't believe both of them are still alive today. This is so much like the Matthew Shepherd Story with hate crime. It's unfortunately happening everywhere, not just America!Hilary Swank made a great resemble of the real Teena Brandon. She honestly prepared the role that I'm so glad she got an Oscar for her character. I bet the real Teena Brandon would be so proud of her and the fact her story will be recognized to the world in combating Transgender hate crimes. I'm glad they put this movie out to give us people the message of being aware what really is happening to our big bad world.....