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IMDbPro

Boys Don't Cry

  • 19991999
  • RR
  • 1h 58m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
97K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
2,481
108
Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry (1999)
Trailer
Play trailer1:00
1 Video
91 Photos
  • Biography
  • Crime
  • Drama
A young man named Brandon Teena navigates love, life, and being transgender in rural Nebraska.A young man named Brandon Teena navigates love, life, and being transgender in rural Nebraska.A young man named Brandon Teena navigates love, life, and being transgender in rural Nebraska.
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
97K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
2,481
108
  • Director
    • Kimberly Peirce
  • Writers
    • Kimberly Peirce
    • Andy Bienen
  • Stars
    • Hilary Swank
    • Chloë Sevigny
    • Peter Sarsgaard
Top credits
  • Director
    • Kimberly Peirce
  • Writers
    • Kimberly Peirce
    • Andy Bienen
  • Stars
    • Hilary Swank
    • Chloë Sevigny
    • Peter Sarsgaard
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 456User reviews
    • 71Critic reviews
    • 86Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 50 wins & 38 nominations total

    Videos1

    Boys Don't Cry
    Trailer 1:00
    Boys Don't Cry

    Photos91

    Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry (1999)
    Hilary Swank, Peter Sarsgaard, and Brendan Sexton III in Boys Don't Cry (1999)
    Chloë Sevigny and Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry (1999)
    Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry (1999)
    Kimberly Peirce in Boys Don't Cry (1999)
    Hilary Swank at an event for Boys Don't Cry (1999)
    Boys Don't Cry (1999)
    Chloë Sevigny and Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry (1999)
    Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry (1999)
    Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry (1999)
    Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry (1999)
    Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry (1999)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Hilary Swank
    Hilary Swank
    • Brandon Teena
    Chloë Sevigny
    Chloë Sevigny
    • Lana Tisdel
    Peter Sarsgaard
    Peter Sarsgaard
    • John Lotter
    Brendan Sexton III
    Brendan Sexton III
    • Tom Nissen
    Alicia Goranson
    Alicia Goranson
    • Candace
    Alison Folland
    Alison Folland
    • Kate
    Jeannetta Arnette
    Jeannetta Arnette
    • Lana's Mom
    Rob Campbell
    Rob Campbell
    • Brian
    Matt McGrath
    Matt McGrath
    • Lonny
    Cheyenne Rushing
    • Nicole
    Robert Prentiss
    • Trucker
    Josh Ridgway
    • Kwik Stop Cashier
    Craig Erickson
    • Trucker in Kwik Stop
    Stephanie Sechrist
    • April
    Jerry Haynes
    Jerry Haynes
    • Judge
    Lou Perryman
    • Sheriff
    Lisa Renee Wilson
    • Pam
    • (as Lisa Wilson)
    Jackson Kane
    • Sam Phillips
    • Director
      • Kimberly Peirce
    • Writers
      • Kimberly Peirce
      • Andy Bienen
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    7.3
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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      When Hilary Swank was living as a man to prepare for the role of Brandon Teena, her neighbors believed that the young man coming and going from Swank's home (Swank in male character) was her visiting brother.
    • Goofs
      The court summons Candace finds in the trash can (for which Brandon traveled to Lincoln) says "Hunt County." The courthouse building that Brandon walks into to pay the traffic ticket ALSO says "Hunt County." That would mean that Brandon walked into the very same courthouse where the bench warrant was earlier issued, but the sheriff tells Brandon that "this is what the Lincoln authorities faxed us over."
    • Quotes

      Lana: Shut up. That's your business. Look, I don't care if you're half monkey or half ape, I'm gettin' you out of here.

    • Crazy credits
      A special thanks to all of the transmen and butch dykes who helped, advised and auditioned for this project and supported the process of bringing this story to the screen.
    • Alternate versions
      The USA version originally garnered an NC-17 from the MPAA. The film was cut and re-rated R. The European version reportedly is uncut.
    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Double Jeopardy/Jakob the Liar/Mumford (1999)
    • Soundtracks
      Just What I Needed
      Written by Ric Ocasek

      Performed by The Cars

      Published by Lido Music, Inc.

      Courtesy of Elektra Entertainment Group

      By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

    User reviews456

    Review
    Top review
    9/10
    Sometimes they do
    (Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon.)

    This movie really made me think about sexual differences and what it means to have a sex change or to want one, or to be trapped in a gender you don't want. It was very effective to have us see Hilary Swank (who plays Brandon Teena/Teena Brandon) with short hair and male facial expressions and gestures without giving us a glimpse of her as Teena. (Actually we did get a brief glimpse in a photo.) Swank looks like a boy, acts like a boy, in fact works hard to be a boy; indeed that is (sadly) part of what this movie is about, what it means to be a boy in middle America as opposed to being a girl. And then when we have the scene with the tampons and the breast wrapping and we see her legs, the effect is startling, an effect possibly lost on those who knew that the person playing Brandon was a woman. It was when I saw her legs and could tell at a glance that she was a woman with a woman's legs that I realized just how subtle, but unmistakable are the anatomical sexual differences, and how convincing Swank's portrayal was.

    I was reminded as I watched this of being a young person, of being a teenager and going through all the rituals and rites, unspoken, unplanned, without social sanction, that we all go through to prove our identity, because that is what Brandon was so eager to do, to prove his identity as a boy. I thought, ah such an advantage he has with the girls because he knows what they like and what they want. He can be smooth, and how pretty he looks. It was strange. I actually knew some guys in my youth who had such talent, and the girls did love them.

    The direction by Kimberly Peirce is nicely paced and the forebodings of horror to come are sprinkled lightly throughout so that we don't really think about the resolution perhaps until the campfire scene in which John Lotter shows his self-inflicted scars and tosses the knife to Brandon. Then we know for sure, something bad is going to happen.

    Hilary Swank is very convincing. Her performance is stunning, and she deserved the Academy Award she won for Best Actress. She is the type of tomboy/girl so beloved of the French cinema, tomboyish, but obvious a girl like, for example, Zouzou as seen in Chloe in the Afternoon (1972) or Élodie Bouchez in the The Dreamlife of Angels (1998), or many others. Indeed, one is even reminded of Juliette Binoche, who of course can play anything, or going way back, Leslie Caron in Gigi (1958). Chloe Signvey, who plays Lana Tisdel, the girl Brandon loves, whom I first saw in Palmetto (1998), where she stole a scene or two from Woody Allen and Elisabeth Shue, really comes off ironically as butch to Swank, yet manages a sexy, blue collar girl next door femininity. She also does a great job. Peter Sarsgaard is perfect as John Lotter, trailer trash car thief and homophobic redneck degenerate.

    Very disturbing is the ending. If you know the story, you know the ending. Just how true this was to the real life story it is based on is really irrelevant. I knew nothing about the story, but I know that film makers always take license to tell it the way they think it will play best, and so it's best to just experience the film as the film, independent of the real story, which, like all real stories, can never be totally told.

    Obviously this is not for the kiddies and comes as close to an "X" rating as any "R" movie you'll ever see. It will make most viewers uncomfortable, but it is the kind of story that needs to be told.
    helpful•140
    52
    • DeeNine-2
    • Sep 17, 2001

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 31, 2000 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Fox Searchlight
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Take It Like a Man
    • Filming locations
      • Austin, Texas, USA
    • Production companies
      • Fox Searchlight Pictures
      • The Independent Film Channel Productions
      • Killer Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $2,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $11,540,607
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $73,720
      • Oct 10, 1999
    • Gross worldwide
      • $11,540,607
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 58 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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