WhatzUp

Boys Don't Cry
by Derek Neff

Boys Don't Cry is based on the true story of 17-year-old Teena Brandon (Hilary Swank), a young woman who in 1993 moves to a small town in Nebraska and "becomes," short of a few obvious physical exceptions, a boy. "Brandon" (as she calls herself) is, to put it lightly, confused, and she compensates by telling one boastful lie after another. Despite these lies, Brandon is an essentially good person. That's why it's so difficult -- almost unbearable -- to witness what happens to her once her secret is discovered by John and Tom (Peter Sarsgaard and Brandon Sexton III), two ex-cons who have taken Brandon under their wing. Hilary Swank, who won an Oscar for her performance, not only succeeds where many other actors have failed before her--she looks, moves, and acts like the very boy she's trying to be--but she manages at the same time to overlay this potentially gimmicky role with glimpses of the young girl she's trying to deny ever existed. It's a haunting and honest performance that is so good one forgets, while watching it, that it actually is a performance. Swank's no-nonsense acting talents flourish under the gritty direction of Kimberly Pierce, who never flinches away from the movie's more unendurable moments. (Be warned: Boys Don't Cry pushes the limits of even an R rating.) Also notable here is Chloe Sevigny (Kids, Last Days of Disco), who plays Brandon's girlfriend Lana with the perfect blend of affection, denial and despair.