source: Boys Don't Cry

This director is amazing, that's all I've got to say. How she crafted this story and moved me is just amazing, I'm very very impressed. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the fact that it's simply a very powerful true story, terribly moving and just terrible at the same time. The actors are all fine. Hilary Swank does a great job, sure, but for my money it was Chloe Sevigny that made this film watchable. If we didn't believe that SHE believed that 'he' was a 'she' (that's not a spoiler, unless you were born under a rock) then the whole movie would fall apart. But we experience Chloe falling in love, and we buy it hook line and sinker. Well done indeed.

I haven't seen a film before which has moved me so much or stirred up very strong feelings. After watching this film I felt like I have been through a hurricane. Hilary Swank is absolutely hands down brilliant as Brandon. Chloe Sevgny is equally impressive as Lana, I felt that she was the audiences way into Brandon. The supporting cast are also excellent. I have never seen a audience react with such revulsion and shock as they did during the final scenes, believe me its pretty unpleasant viewing. This film depicts hate crimes to a tee. First Brandon is humiliated and degraded, then raped and finally brutally killed and stabbed. I felt like I had been through every emotion I could possibly experience whilst watching a film. At the end of the film I felt for Brandon, the person. Regardless of his gender, not as a boy or a girl, but as a wonderful human being and a friend. Kimberly Pierce directs with great compassion and I am sure she will have a huge career ahead of her.

What do we call Teena Brandon? Transgendered seems inappropriately ideological, androgyne unfittingly futuristic and cross-dresser too whimsically flimsy. In Kimberly Peirce's harrowing first film, Teena Brandon simply called herself Brandon Teena and started living as a man. Because Brandon lived in the real life trailer park precincts of 1993 Nebraska, this quietly brazen disruption of easy categories proved fatal. Hilary Swank's Oscar winning portrayal of Brandon is perfect - perfectly staggering. Her Brandon is as honest imposter, with a solid core of confidence under layers of vulnerability. The gender confusion is all ours.

Despite the director/writer good intentions, the movie as a whole turns out to be too muddled : there is no clear line, you just drift inside this group with absolutely no dramatic tension except at the end when everything accelerates tragically. This type of subject must be tackled with grip which isn't the case here, scenes follow each other in a boring monotony and there is a terrible lack of identification with the characters especially Brandon, perfectly embodied by Hillary Swank. After barely 45 minutes, all hope for this real story is lost and the outcome therefore comes off as a great relief for a long and unproductive movie.

When I saw the most terrifying moments of this movie (the rape and the killing of Brandon / Teena) I thought that this was a true story. So I realized that in a moment of my life, while I was sleeping or eating or studying, Brandon was going to be raped and killed. I got shocked by this and now I think that this is the best movie of the year (much more better than "American Beauty"). Hilary Swank is fantastic as she portrays Brandon and all in this movie is so powerful, a hymn against intolerance. People must see this movie, people must understand this movie. And it would be fantastic if the sacrifice of Brandon will contribute to erase intolerance from this world.

It's no secret that the main character was brutally murdered in real life. Knowing this makes watching the film all the harder to take. The viewer watches every confrontation in trembling fear, waiting for the inevitable. When it finally comes, it is as unsettling as any movie scene in history. Several of my friends refused to accompany me to this film, citing its subject matter as "too depressing." Indeed it is. Why would somebody want to spend two hours to watch a profoundly confused human being stumble through a world filled with violent morons and creeps? I'm not sure of the answer. Perhaps it's good to be reminded of the evil in the world, of how some men live where fear, ignorance, and violence converge. All I know is, I'm damn well keeping far away from Nebraska for the rest

This was the most well deserved Oscar given to ANY actor for Mrs. Swank than I can remember. Her performance in this film was phenomenal. She even lived as a boy for 30 days before filming began and her dedication and hard work truly shows in this film. Kimberly Peirce did an amazing job in developing the love story between Lana and Brandon/Teena. Great acting by everyone in this film. I could watch this movie over and over again. 9/10

This movie was absolutely horrible. That girl had serious mental problems and I don't know why anybody would make a movie like this. The director mus have been high or something to make this picture. Hillary Swank won best actress for trying to be a boy and she is brutilly raped, which is the most intense scene in the movie. I think that she only got best actress for this movie because she had to do that scene. The only thing she did good in this movie was to act like a boy. Don't waste your time watching this movie becuase you will just be depressed at the end. I give this movie a great big two thumbs down!

This film makes you answer the question : Why do I love cinema? This true story of Brandon Teena is the best film I have seen in all my life. The oscar for Hilary Swank is the most fair Oscar in 72 years of this prize; her performance is the best performance in cinema history, i am sure. The directing of Kim Peirce is just so heartbroken that you can't do any other thing except cry for this story of love and hate. Everybody has to see it.