Boys Don't Cry
Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: October 8, 1999 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
86
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
32
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
63
Baltimore SunAnn Hornaday
Too sketchy about her protagonist's interior life, and too fast and loose with the details of this story, to make much of an impact beyond its initial shock.
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
One of the best films of the year. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Stack
There may not be a better- acted film this year. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Swank's nuanced performance is remarkable and it's a powerful film. Read full review
88
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
A remarkable movie that merits a place alongside "The Executioner's Song" and "In Cold Blood" as an unforgettable depiction of tragedy in the heartland. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Free of the disclaiming jokey sneer that defaces so much of contemporary neo-noir. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
A kick to the heart, and Swank is a marvel. Any problems in the storytelling are more than balanced by her wholly committed work.
88
USA TodayMike Clark
A weeper poised to endure as one of the dominant independent features of the year.
88
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
Boys Don't Cry's intensity sneaks up on you like a snake. Read full review
40
TimeElizabeth L. Bland
The movie lets down the material. It's to cool: all attitude, no sizzle. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverZac Crain
That's possibly Peirce's best trick of all, telling a true story so well that you can't remember how it ends. And when you remember, you hope that you were wrong. Read full review
90
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Scorches the screen like a prairie fire. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
A powerful piece of social protest, skillfully written, directed, and acted...Hilary Swank as Brandon and Chloe Sevigny as his girlfriend Lana are especially fine. Read full review
88
New York PostJonathan Foreman
A haunting, superbly made film. But it's also an unrelentingly sad and depressing experience.
90
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Peirce's taut, sure-footed first film sidesteps sensationalism without sacrificing any of the story's wonder and horror Read full review
80
Film.comGemma Files
An incredible star turn from Hilary Swank. Read full review
80
Rolling StonePeter Travers
A shockingly intimate and deeply affecting film about the roots of sexual role playing.
90
Washington PostStephen Hunter
The longest, hardest sit of the season -- you are stuck there, a single tube of puckered muscle, waiting for the extremely ugly violence to occur -- but it is driven by performances of such luminous humanity that they break your heart. Read full review
65
TNT RoughCutChristopher Brandon
It's essentially a play-by-play of events that's so cheaply made it reeks of made-for-TV status.
88
Chicago TribuneMarc Caro
A stirring, emotionally true testament to foolish bravery as well as shameful evidence of the severity with which it is so often punished. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Swank gives one of the year's most complex and hard-hitting performances in the demanding central role. Read full review
90
VarietyEmmanuel Levy
The poignant and candid Boys Don't Cry can be seen as a "Rebel Without a Cause" for these culturally diverse and complex times, with the two misfit girls enacting a version of the James Dean/Natalie Wood romance with utmost conviction. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
An exceptional--and exceptionally disturbing--film from a first-time director and writer (with Andy Bienen) named Kimberly Pierce. Unflinching, uncompromising, made with complete conviction and rare skill. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
To say this bone-chilling, gut-turning feature is "The Crying Game"-meets-"In Cold Blood." But this is a film - writer/director Peirce's first - that matches those pictures in power, in surprise, and in unnerving drama.
100
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
An amazing work, a film that seems to gurgle up from the American heartland, resonant and fully formed, ripe with possibilities. Read full review
88
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
A powerful, deeply moving tale, immeasurably facilitated by the performance of relatively unknown Hilary Swank as Brandon...smartly shot and edited, and the performances are dead-on. Read full review
90
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
Stunning...a film much tougher and more transfixing than its wan title. Read full review
100
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
For a movie that ends in the profoundest depths of sadness, Boys Don't Cry contains one of the year's purest moments of joy. Read full review
100
Boston GlobeJay Carr
"In Cold Blood," "Badlands," "The Executioner's Song," and now, joining those grisly milestones on the heartland hit list, and every bit their equal, is Boys Don't Cry. Read full review
80
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Gripping, and it's moving, but it isn't particularly subtle. There's a strong thread of tabloid drama running through its core -- but at least it's sensationalistic storytelling with a heart. Read full review
80
Film.comErnest Hardy
To watch Sevigny's Lana slowly thaw to Brandon is to see the transformative, heartbreaking power of romance in a way that Hollywood is rarely able to capture anymore. Read full review
91
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
A radically disturbing and memorable movie whose images don't easily fade or diminish in power. Read full review
100
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
It's Swank, however, who's the revelation. By the end, her Brandon/Teena is beyond male or female. It's as if we were simply glimpsing the character's soul, in all its yearning and conflicted beauty. Read full review
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