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Boys Don't Cry (1999)

 -  Drama  -  29 October 1999 (Canada)
7.5
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Ratings: 7.5/10 from 54,898 users   Metascore: 86/100
Reviews: 420 user | 114 critic | 33 from Metacritic.com

The story of the life of Brandon Teena, a transgendered teen who preferred life in a male identity until it was discovered he was born biologically female.

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Title: Boys Don't Cry (1999)

Boys Don't Cry (1999) on IMDb 7.5/10

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Won 1 Oscar. Another 47 wins & 27 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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Lana's Mom
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Brian
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Lonny
Cheyenne Rushing ...
Nicole
Robert Prentiss ...
Trucker
Josh Ridgway ...
Kwik Stop Cashier
Craig Erickson ...
Trucker in Kwik Stop
Stephanie Sechrist ...
April
...
Judge
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Storyline

Based on actual events. Brandon Teena is the popular new guy in a tiny Nebraska town. He hangs out with the guys, drinking, cussing, and bumper surfing, and he charms the young women, who've never met a more sensitive and considerate young man. Life is good for Brandon, now that he's one of the guys and dating hometown beauty Lana. However, he's forgotten to mention one important detail. It's not that he's wanted in another town for GTA and other assorted crimes, but that Brandon Teena was actually born a woman named Teena Brandon. When his best friends make this discovery, Brandon's life is ripped apart. Written by Zhe

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

A true story about finding the courage to be yourself.

Genres:

Drama

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence including an intense brutal rape scene, sexuality, language and drug use | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Official Sites:

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

29 October 1999 (Canada)  »

Also Known As:

Take It Like a Man  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£79,576 (UK) (21 April 2000)

Gross:

$11,533,945 (USA) (19 May 2000)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Premiere voted this movie as one of "The 25 Most Dangerous Movies." (In the description for the list, the magazine stated, "These are movies about which you could say, "That's Not Entertainment." They're not "rides" or "diversions." They are galvanizing experiences that place squarely in your face all the stuff Hollywood usually presumes you go to the movies to get away from. Films that rearrange your head, that challenge your bedrock ideas about life and love and the big sleep. Consciousness-expanders, in other words, but rarely in a pleasant way. Thank God for them.") See more »

Goofs

The cuts and bruises on Brandon's face change while he talks to Lana inside the shack. See more »

Quotes

Brandon: So what's your name?
Candace: [laughs] Candace. I hate it though, I'm thinking of changing it.
Brandon: Sometimes that helps. I'm Brandon.
See more »

Crazy Credits

Thanks to everyone who volunteered to speak about his or her experiences and help with research. See more »

Connections

Spoofed in If These Walls Could Talk 2 (2000) See more »

Soundtracks

"That Lady 'Part 1'"
Written by Ernie Isley, Marvin Isley, Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley,
O'Kelly Isley and Chris Jasper
Performed by The Isley Brothers
Published by EMI April Music Inc. (ASCAP)
Courtesy of EMI Records under license from EMI-Capitol Music Special Markets
See more »

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User Reviews

 
Swank is not a lesbian at all but a transgendered individual, thus blurring the sexual divide in the best queer tradition…
10 December 2008 | by (Mexico) – See all my reviews

Teena Brandon (Hilary Swank) is a girl who wishes to become a boy… Arriving in the small Nebraska town of Falls City, Teena binds her breasts, cuts her hair and calls herself Brandon Teena…

When Brandon meets Lana (wonderfully played by Chloë Sevigny), a love affair develops in the course of which sexual identities and gender stereotype is turned upside down…

Eventually Lana comes to realize Brandon is anatomically female, but by then she does not care… Brandon offers her a caring relationship such as she has never known… Unfortunately, Brandon's secret is eventually discovered by two young men, John and Tom, who have befriended him… The knowledge that they have been deceived is deeply disturbing to their male pride…

The film is based on a true story, which also the subject of a documentary, 'The Brandon Teena Story' (1998). But it is less its status as a true-crime document, more its subtle power to subvert our usual assumptions about sexuality that makes this a notable film, and a key text of the so-called 'queer' cinema…

Unlike militant films which proselytize for homosexuality, 'queer' films adopt a more insidious strategy, seeking to undermine such rigid categories as gay and straight… Thus Brandon, in Hilary Swank's excellent interpretation of the role, alert to all the ambiguities, is not a lesbian though he/she has sex with women… And while he/she has adopted some of the physical attributes of a man (clothes, hair-style, certain mannerisms), Brandon has retained a softness and sensuality which implies a critique of conventional masculinity, and which is the secret of his/her sexual success with women… No wonder he arouses the rage of other men…


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Message Boards

Recent Posts
Thoughts on negative comments on this board amunar20
What Teena did was wrong OK_Firecracker
sex scene JumeirahSun
FOR THE REAL LANA TISDALE! sunbun63
What exactly WAS Brandon Teena?? blantonbrenda
I really didn't like Lana's mom!! loopylauseng
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