written 11.99
You'll enjoy this if you liked:
Drugstore Cowboy, Last Exit to Brooklyn
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
WINNER NY Film Critics Circle, Golden Globe Best Actress, Hilary Swank
NOMINATED Golden Globe Best Supporting Actress: Chloe Sevigny
WINNER National Board of Review, Debut Director:
Kimberly Peirce
20th Century Fox. 1 hr 45 min |
First-time writer/director Kimberly Peirce takes the lurid, sensational real-life story of doomed Teena Brandon, a girl who wanted
nothing more than to be a boy, and teases out a tragic love story from a situation that seems doomed to freak-show status by the outlandish behavior and sheer audacity of its central character. Her
nuanced script makes jaw-dropping events seem natural and logical, but even this accomplishment would fall flat without a believable performance. Hilary Swank
meets the challenge of a girl successfully pretending to be a boy in the most convincing switch seen Anne Carlisle's wispy boy adonis in the cult "Liquid Sky." She almost dares you to disbelieve that this bright-eyed, romantic young guy is a girl.
And what a guy! Handsome, attentive and thoughtful, Brandon is the kind of boyfriend many girls dream of. The opening scenes of the film establish the dizzy headiness Brandon must have felt --
squiring young women and winning their hearts, getting away with a phenomenal con job. The viewer gets a similar disorienting, can't believe it feeling viewers get when watching Swank's eerily accurate
mimicking of male mannerisms and speech patterns. She's more of a man than the real men involved.
The story follows Brandon as s/he lands in a bleak Midwestern town, befriends two chauvinist-pig
locals and then falls in love with Lana (Chloe Sevigny). As their relationship
progresses, the film neatly handles important information such as, How does a girl pretend to be a guy when peeing? The story relies heavily on evocative physical details (truck surfing, Brandon's
sudden need for a drugstore] communicating the boring hopelessness of a hardscrabble life. This movie is so purposefully down-at-heel that you can almost feel the slightly greasy denim of the
character's jeans and smell cheap beer and drugstore perfume. Victoria Farrell, who also did the satiric 'Kiss Me Guido' gets the muddy-gritty clothes just right. Good work by Michael Shaw, making
'Boys' look like real life instead of a richly false fashion layout.
"Boys" is based largely on newspaper accounts of the story and the film's linear, fact-heavy style works very well in explaining
How and What. The beginning of the film moves along swiftly, laying out the particulars of Brandon's existence in a brisk, reportorial fashion (how Brandon puts together his identity, why the long arm
of the law reaches out of the past). Peirce wisely uses many real-life details to give this fantastic tale the hard bite of bleak reality.
That's the How and What, but artistry is needed to
explain Why. Here the film belongs to Swank. Her yearning, eager young character is bursting to live on her own terms. She radiates an almost crazed intensity in her feverish desire
(reminiscent of Kathleen Turner's relentless Maddy in "Body Heat") to convince others that she's a man. The girl's absolute refusal to see herself as female and hope that she can live as she feels
comfortable propels her further into an insanely risky path. Watching her narrowly escape detection time and time again as she keeps pushing for her dream is riveting. The touching relationship
between Brandon and Teena keeps her dangerous gamble from spiraling into sheer lunacy. Sevigny has a tart, worldly screen presence that works well with Swank's exhilarated, starry-eyed Brandon.
The most surprising scenes in a movie full of twists are the ones involving Lana accepting and defending Brandon...as a man. Under this gruesome, bitter tale is a thwarted love story, made all the more
tender by the unbelievable truth of the lover's situation. Their unusual pairing is proof that love is indeed blind.
It's not a pretty film -- the one lyrical shot of Lana peering out of the
factory window nicely illustrates how she's a fantasy princess to Brandon -- but it's authentic. Not for the squeamish -- director Peirce is unflinching when dealing with a terrorizing accusation scene
and a ferociously brutal rape. The rape scene is harrowing and worse than 'Deliverance' in its refusal to look away from brutality. Swank's shuddering, halting retelling of the events brings
chills -- she's under the skin of this character and there's no faking raw emotion on this level.
"Boys" is a thought-provoking examination on the nature of maleness and a withering damnation of
intolerance and the stupidity of defining people by their physical characteristics. Swank will win an Oscar for her brilliant performance if there's any justice, which would pay a strange and fitting tribute
to the bravery of a person who tried so hard to find love and a place in life. Searing and worthy but not for everyone. |
