Review of Boys Don't Cry (1999) by Dawdlingpoet — 08 Aug 2022

This film dates from 2000, so its got some age to it. I remember hearing about it when it came out and I've no doubt it generated some controvery due to the story it told - its about a real life story, though I don't know how accurate it is as such but certainly Hilary Swank seems to give a pretty decent performance as the protagonist. I thought Chloe Sevigny also gave a decent performance as the love interest, Lana. I can certainly imagine mid-America wouldn't be entirely tolerant of trans type people or hermaphrodites, as the protagonist refers to herself as during the film. I didn't feel it was unnecessarily gratuitous really - the subject matter is of course somewhat sensitive but perhaps, hopefully, less so these days, as more is being openly/publically spoken about in terms of gender identity/body dysmorphia and transgender rights etc.

I thought this film was quite well made as I did feel frustrated by how locals treated the protagonist, Brandon, once their personal history had become local knowledge. Some of the scenes were a bit too dark and I don't mean subject wise but literally lighting wise, in as much as I found it a bit hard to fully follow exactly what was going on but for the most part its a pretty good film that handles the subject relatively well. I like to think there's more tolerance around for such things nowadays, broadly speaking but its an important story to tell, especially at the time it was released I suppose, to highlight the issue. If your particularly interested in this film then yes, I'd say its worth a watch, though its not really a film which is greatly memorable or impactful in a sort of long term basis I reckon but for what it is, its certainly not bad. I feel glad the story was told and able to reach a reasonably big audience at the time it was released, I hope.