ultimately bogged down

This movie wastes no time throwing you into the life of Teena Brandon, a confused girl from the Midwest with a "sexual identity crisis." Basically, she walks, talks, and acts like a boy, calling herself Brandon Teena. She wanders from bar to bar, "picking up" women. One night she gets drunk and ends up in a town hundreds of miles away from her home. She decides to stay because the people there completely embrace her as a man. She has guy-friends and girlfriends, and it's all she's ever dreamed of. Needless to say, the movie has an inevitable conclusion. It's based on a true story, and the filmmakers do not sugarcoat the brutal truth for anyone.

Hillary Swank makes a complete mental and physical transformation into the life of Teena. Although she portrays a character that is difficult to identify with, she still gains the empathy of the audience. She gains that empathy, not only through Swank's portrayal, but also through the subtly engrossing script. The way that Brandon clings to titles like "sexual identity crisis" and the fact that girls call her the best boyfriend they've ever had are just a few of the subtle ways the script points out that Brandon has not completely shed her former life. She might be ashamed of it, but she also has that innate human desire to just be "normal."

One thing that I appreciated about this movie was that everything--script, actors, and director--fit seamlessly together. The movie obviously deals with gritty, "edgy" material, and the film compensates for that in every arena. The director (first-timer Kimberly Peirce) employs a very original approach to her depiction of Brandon. She also achieves the impossible in not making me roll my eyes with her use of exposed film shots. Usually, this technique comes across as a director trying to impress, but the manner in which Peirce goes about it didn't make me induce vomiting, for some reason.

As for the not-so-great parts of this movie, there were a few. For instance, every actor achieves their ultimate purpose, but, in my opinion, not much more than that. Swank is definitely more than adequate in her difficult role, but not amazing. She got her Oscar because she played a girl who wishes she was a guy trapped in a girl's body, not because of the way she handled it. Chloe Sevigny, who plays Lana Tisdel, Brandon's girlfriend through the latter half of the film, is a little stiff and hard to empathize with. The acting that impressed me came from the woman who played the small role of Lana's mom, Jeanetta Arnette.

Since the movie is based on a true story but is ultimately a product of Hollywood (even though it's an independent film,) there are a few discrepancies between fact and fiction. This angers me because it's stupid to take artistic license with the truth. The movie basically just milks the concept of "white trash" a little too much. It comes across as trying too hard to make the audience squeamish. Some of it is gratuitous, like a sex scene between Brandon and Tisdel that didn't even occur. The graphic scenes that are true, such as Brandon's rape, are presented in an honest, no-holds-barred manner, but the fact that they're surrounded by screenwriter-manufactured occurrences waters the movie down.

A Must See

Anyone who fell in love with this movie, Brandon, and his story as much as I did, has to see the DVD version of this film. The directors commentary alone is worth every penny. Kimberly Pierce (the co-writer and director) takes the viewer through a step by step tour of her inspiration for the film, her choices for everything from music to camera angles, and her hopes for what this movie would do to honor Brandon and his amazing spirit. She even provides tidbits of backround information on each of the actors, the making of the film, her encounters with the real life people portrayed, and her extensive knowledge of Brandon, his short life, and heartbreaking story. This movie is to be learned from. It is a eulogy to an amazing individual done with the respect he deserves. It is a lesson in the importance of tolerance and the ignorance of many. I believe I will never forget Brandon and all his story has taught me. I give the highest credit to Ms. Pierce for her drive and passion, her excellent storytelling ability and her perfect choices in casting. I also give high complements to Hilary Swank and Chloe Sevigny for their ever sincere, powerful performances.

Facinating and strange

The production quality both audio and video was good. The script was facinating and truely sad. This was not a feel good movie and in fact will leave you angry. Teena Brandon was a self destructive, confused young lady that wanted to be accepted and loved however she could not accept herself. The story is about how she lived and the situation that leads to her death. It was actually very well acted and I was impressed with the finished product. This is a quality addition to any collection.