The Crying Game (1992)

Image by Palace Pictures/Miramax via Film on Paper

Hello friends! And boy, could I use some friends right about now. It seems every weekend lately, something happens that just throws my whole life and focus for a loop. I just want a boring, normal weekend. All I want to do is watch movies, write, and work the day job. Is that too much to ask for? Apparently. So, to the ten people who read every blog post, I'm sorry for all the delays lately. I'm trying, just bare with me.

Warning: I'm going to be talking about a major plot twist in this movie. If you plan on seeing it and want to be surprised, stop reading. You have been warned.

Okay. So, 1992 was a rough place in the LGBTQ+ world. It wasn't quite as bad as the 70s and 80s, it was slowly getting better. It was slowly becoming more socially acceptable to be gay. Hate crimes and discrimination were still widely a thing. AIDS was still a problem, both medically and socially, as information on it was still new and not widely distributed yet among the masses. But we were still a few years away from mainstream celebrities coming out and gay characters being portrayed as positive or as protagonists on mainstream television.

In late 1993, President Bill Clinton signed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" into law, which did nothing to curb the which hunts of gays in the military

Image by ABC 7 Chicago

I can only imagine what being Transgender was like in 1992. They had all the usual problems that homosexuals had to deal with, compounded with the stigma of Transgenderism. Popular media had portrayed Trans people as, at best, a joke. But at worst, like a serial killer. Movies like Psycho and Dressed to Kill are great films, but they helped infuse a discomfort in the minds of many that men who dress in women's clothing are mentally unstable. And of course, women who dress like men are just butch lesbians.

The reason I bring this up is that one of the main themes of this film is transgenderism and gender identity. One of the leads plays an MtF Transgender. I'll get into some specifics when I get into the plot, but it's handled in a very graphic and realistic way, much like the rest of this movie. Amazingly, it's just one of the issues tackled rather successfully in The Crying Game, along with sexual orientation, race, and nationality. So let's get into the plot.

I'm going to do something I normally don't want to do in these reviews. I order for some of my thoughts to make sense, I'm going to go into great detail about the story. So again, if you don't want more spoilers, go watch the movie and come back. You have been warned. Again.

Some film openings are so perfect, they stick with you forever.

Image by Palace Pictures/Miramax via IMDB

The movie starts with a beautiful panorama shot of a carnival by a river, with Percy Sledge's iconic "When a Man Loves a Woman" playing. Forest Whitaker and Miranda Richardson are at the carnival, having a good time. She sneaks him away, tempting him sexually. Once they are alone, several men come out and grab Whitaker and whisk him off to a hideout. Turns out he's a British soldier and he's been kidnapped by the Irish Republican Army (IRA). They are holding him hostage so the British government will release some IRA operatives from prison. They have three days, or Whitaker dies.

Whitaker and, likely, the audience knows what the end result will be. A soldier played by Stephen Rea is assigned to guard Whitaker. Over the course of those three days, they develop a close bond. They talk about Cricket. Whitaker relates the parable of the Scorpion and the Frog. He pleads for mercy, which Rea can't give him. Whitaker knows he's going to die, so he makes Rea promise to check in on his girl back home.

This is a decent chunk of the film. And an amazing performance with solid chemistry between the two

Image by Palace Pictures/Miramax via IMDB

When the time comes, Rea leads Whitaker into the woods. Whitaker runs, knowing he can outrun Rea, who lets him go anyway. He can't go through with it. Whitaker runs to freedom, turns to celebrate and shows his thanks to Rea..... and promptly gets crushed by an Armored Personnel Carrier. The British Army showed up and they rain down indiscriminate hellfire upon the IRA hideout, not caring if Whitaker is still a prisoner or alive. Rea, who is in the woods and not at base, manages to slip away.

A man will do what's in his nature to do.

Image by Palace Pictures/Miramax via IMDB

Sometime later, Rea is in London. He uses an alias and has a job as a construction worker. He manages to track down Whitaker's girlfriend, played by Jaye Davidson. He kinda stalks her for a bit and follows her into a bar called The Metro. She fights with some guy, then they leave, and Rea follows. He ends up falling for her, protecting her from that violent suitor. Davidson is a hairdresser and sings at the bar sometimes. She does a strong cover of Dave Berry's "The Crying Game." Eventually, they are about to get down to business, and he pulls her pants down to reveal... a big ole' dick. Davidson is Transgender.

Trust me, it's not a trap.

Image by Palace Pictures/Miramax via IMDB

Rea has an extremely negative reaction to this big reveal. He hits Davidson then rushes to the bathroom to puke. Davidson, bawling, drops to her knees screaming "not again" and "how could you not know?" It's a raw, visceral, emotional scene, and not easy to watch. But it's a scene that resonates with the tragedy of realism. It's uncomfortable, but in the same way, something like, say, Schindler's List was as well. Though a different type of situation, obviously.

Rea eventually apologizes to Davidson, and the two continue their courtship. He puts on a bit of a front, but clearly is falling for her. But he hasn't told her the truth about himself or Whitaker yet. In one scene, he has her wear Whitaker's old Cricket jersey while they make love. Rea imagines it's Whitaker in her spot.

Don't you just love those earrings?

Image by Palace Pictures/Miramax via IMDB

 Eventually, the sins of Rea's past catch up to him. It turns out, several of his IRA colleges made it out of that British assault, and they've hunted him down as a traitor. Richardson shows up in Rea's apartment and blackmails him into doing "one more job" for the IRA. They want him to assassinate a judge. If he doesn't, they're going to kill Davidson. Rea reluctantly agrees. He tries to protect Davidson, getting her to cut her hair, dress like a man as a disguise, and telling her to leave town and never come back. Davidson ends up wandering the streets, drunk and gets Rea back to her apartment. She asks him to never leave her and he agrees. Then he tells drunk Davidson the truth about himself and Whitaker. He wakes up the next morning, tied to her bed, with sober Davidson pointing a gun at him. She asks him to say that he loves her and will never leave her.

Rea misses the assassination because of all that. The IRA does the dead without him, and succeeded, but not without casualties. Richardson manages to get away though and goes hunting for Davidson and Rea. Richardson gets to Davidson's apartment, but Davidson is waiting for her. She shoots Richardson and then turns the gun on Rea. But she can't pull the trigger, because Whitaker "wouldn't let her." She breaks down. Rea takes the gun, wipes her handprints off it, and replaces them with his own. The police come and arrest him.

Fast forward a few months. Rea is in prison. Davidson comes to visit him. Rea still puts on a bit of a front, but it's clear he loves her. She asks him why he did what he did, taking the fall for her. He tells her it's just in his nature and begins to tell her the parable of the scorpion and the frog. The end credits start to roll with Lyle Lovett covering "Stand By Your Man." Wow.

Richardson kills in this movie.

Image by Palace Pictures/Miramax via IMDB

So, let me first address the elephant in the room. Some modern, more sensitive viewers might balk at the more transphobic scenes, especially the scene with the big reveal. Rea also puts up a fake attitude of bravado for most of the movie, denying he has any attraction to Davidson, though his actions say otherwise. And if this movie came out today, set today, I might be inclined to be uncomfortable with it. But remember the context. This wasn't 2020, this was 1992. I'm not saying transphobia and homophobia are good, but they were much more a thing then, so of course Rea is going to act as he did. The reveal scene is raw and graphic and dripping with authenticity. I would also argue that because his character does grow and overcomes most of his prejudice. He learns to follow his heart and fall in love with a Trans girl. Also, we have a Trans character that, while flawed, is still portrayed positively (aka NOT a serial killer) and that Rea falls in love with her, wow.

Some people might also accuse the Davidson character of being a "trap" because she doesn't tell Rea about her extra tool. Nope. He went with her, more than once, to what was clearly a drag bar. They do a good job of shooting it to keep the twist up, but still. I kinda suspected, just from the bar. Rea's character needs to be more observant. But the fact that he didn't know actually fits within his character. It's not a trap.

The second big theme of the movie is that of nationalism, in particular, "the Troubles" between the British government and the IRA. The IRA comes off as having a significant cause, but not caring who they hurt along the way. The British military, likewise, had a purpose but will murder indiscriminately. And soldiers of both sides can be good people, who get wrapped up in things beyond them. It's important to note that the IRA was going to kill Whitaker, but the British did it first. They are both guilty.

I forgot to mention that Jim Broadbent plays the bartender at The Metro. A small role, but I always love seeing him in things.

Image by Palace Pictures/Miramax via IMDB

Neil Jordan wrote and directed this film. He had a slew of interesting-sounding movies in the 80s and would go on to direct Interview with a Vampire after this. It shouldn't come as a surprise that he had trouble getting this film made. He initially came up with the idea in the early 80s, but with a female romantic lead instead of a Transgender. He had the idea for the change in 1991, while in Berlin to premiere his movie The Miracle.

Due to the controversial script, Jordan's last couple of movies not performing well financially, and doubt that he could find a convincing actor to play the twist, studios were hesitant to fund it. Then, Jordan found Davidson, who is gay but not Trans in real life. Sadly, he doesn't have more than just a couple of film credits, with his only other role of note being Ra in the Stargate movie in 1994.

The Crying Game had a budget of only £2.3 million. The costume designer, Sandy Powell, ended up having to loan Davidson some of her own clothes to wear, due to the tight nature of the budget.

The original title of the film was The Soldier's Wife. However, the name was changed based on a recommendation from Jordan's friend, the renowned director Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick told him that people would think it was a war film.

The movie was a flop in the UK, bringing in only £2 million after it was released on September 18, 1992. The political buttons it pushed made it a disaster when it was originally released. But when it came out in the US a month later, on October 30, it did far, far better. Due to it being billed as a sexual thriller, and US audiences not knowing or caring about "the Troubles," The Crying Game ended up grossing $62.5 million across the pond.

The US release poster, different from the UK one up above. Iconic and super noir-ish. I remember seeing this in newspaper advertisements.

Image by Palace Pictures/Miramax via IMDB

The Crying Game won the BAFTA Award for Best British Film and the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. It was also nominated for five other Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Rea), Best Supporting Actor (Davidson), and Best Editing. It is wildly thought of as one of the greatest British and Irish films of all time.

Here are some neat YouTube behind-the-scenes videos. The 25th Anniversary Panel, a cool Where Are They Now vid, and also an interview with Richardson, Rea, and Jordan on Charlie Rose.

Lastly, I want to mention a couple of other things about the soundtrack, that I didn't mention when talking about the plot. It was produced by the super talented Anne Dudley and the Pet Shop Boys. And fun fact, Boy George did the vocals for the film version of the movie title track "The Crying Game." Davidson just lipsynchs. Bonus fun fact, it ended up being George's first hit single in five years.

Davidson sings in a club that is full of culture.

Image by Palace Pictures/Miramax via 

Final Verdict:

Obviously, I love this movie. It's a masterpiece. The acting and writing and direction are superb. I had no idea about the twist going into it and, while I kinda saw it coming, it was still executed well. The music was great, from the opening "When a Man Loves a Woman" to the closing gender reversal version of "Stand By Your Man." I highly recommend this to everyone, unless you are easily and severely triggered by scenes of transphobia.

The Crying Game had a bit of personal resonance with me, as well. I'm not Transgender, but I have struggled with my gender identity, and I consider myself genderfluid. I sometimes like to wear dresses and I feel pretty in them when I do.

Being genderfluid is like a mixture of chocolate and vanilla ice cream. Best of both worlds!

Image Source

What did you think, if you've seen it? I am curious as to your thoughts and opinions. And if you are a fan of LGBTQ+ movies, what are some Transgender films you enjoy? As always, you can visit Just Watch, they'll let you know where the movie is streaming.

Next time, hmmm... let's see. Let's switch gears from a hyper-intelligent, well-crafted drama to... the opposite. Let's do a Pauly Shore movie. 1996's Bio-Dome. Is this flick worthy of preservation? Or should it go extinct? Find out next time!

Calendar Girl (1993)

Image by Columbia Pictures via IMDB

Hello friends! Back again for another review. I haven't gotten any comments from you readers in the blog comments itself, but I do enjoy your thoughts in Instagram, Facebook, and through private messages. I love talking about movies and the 90s, so thank you and keep it coming! Not much else to say today, so let's just get right into today's movie!

September 3, 1993. "Can't Help Falling in Love" by UB40 was the #1 song in America. The X-Files had just debuted on Fox. Pete Sampras and Steffi Graf won the Men's and Women's US Open Tennis Finals. The Oslo Accords, a peace agreement between Israel and Palestine, were reveled to the public. The New York City borough, Queens, began mandatory recycling. And Calendar Girl was released to theaters.

We're always nostalgic for previous decades. We're nostalgic for the 90s today! But in the late 80s and early 90s, it was the 50s. The Wonder Years was on the air. Weezer would soon use Happy Days as the setting for their "Buddy Holly" music video. And there were a crap ton of movies set in the 50s and 60s. Calendar Girl is one of those.

Before seeing this, I actually got this movie confused with a different movie. See, I thought Calendar Girl was about a bunch of older ladies posing nude for a calendar. Turns out that was a different movie, called Calendar Girls, not Calendar Girl. And it came out in 2003 and not 1993. Woops.

Yep. Yep. Wildly different movie. Would rather have watched this one, though.

Image by Buena Vista Pictures via Amazon

Calendar Girl stars a trio of young lads on a cross country road trip to meet their idol, Marilyn Monroe. The three young men are played by Gabriel Olds, Jerry O'Connell, and  90210 mega star Jason Priestley. I feel like this movie was meant to be a vehicle for both Priestley and O'Connell. O'Connell had a widely successful career in the 90s, but never became the household name that I feel Hollywood was trying to make him. Priestley, on the other hand, was already a household name. Beverly Hills 90210 was a cultural phenomenon in the 90s, easily one of the Top 10 shows that defined the decade. And Priestley, along with Luke Perry, were the two mega star male leads on that show. No offense to Brian Austin Green and Ian Ziering. I never watched any of the show until honestly very recently, but I knew who Perry and Priestley were, as well as Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty.

The story of Calendar Girl is as follows. The three boys end up getting their hands on Marilyn Monroe's infamous nude calendar. They become obsessed with her, see all her films, they even make a scrapbook full of newspaper and magazine clippings of the actress. Fast forward to 1962. The boys are all turning 18. Priestley is joining the military, O'Connell is getting married, and Olds is going off to college. Their lifelong friendship is splintering and they know it. So, they decide to do one last big thing together, before they go their separate ways. They take a road trip across the country, to Hollywood, so they can try to meet their hero, Marilyn.

Always hoped for, and never got, a Sliders/90210 Crossover.

Image by Columbia Pictures via Noovie

Okay. So far so good? A nice, innocent coming-of-age story about friendship and life and impending adulthood. Well. Don't worry. It gets weird, fast. While in Hollywood, they stay with Priestley's uncle, played by the wonderful Joe Pantoliano. He likes to throw wild parties. Oh and there are some hitmen after Priestley, for reasons.

The biggest weird part is the boy's quest to meet Marilyn. It involves them sitting outside of her house for hours on end, following her whenever she leaves (including to a nude beach), and bringing a cow to her front yard (because they think she likes farm animals). Does this make you feel uncomfortable and creeped out? It should. But it gets better. In one scene, Priestley literally breaks into Marilyn's house and corners her, asking her for a date. And then he has the Gaul to be upset when she says "no."

But wait! There's more! She changes her mind later that day, calls Priestley, and asks him out for a late night drive and walk on the beach. He accepts, then passes the date off to Olds, because reasons. So Olds takes Marilyn Monroe (the girl he has been stalking) on a date. He even gets a kiss! He calls her his hero. "I'd rather be your friend than your hero," she says. "Friends last longer." Gag me.

Well, their friendship doesn't last all that long. The boys return home and immediately hear the news that Marilyn has died of a "drug overdose." No shade thrown on the Secret Service in this one, I guess. O'Connell gets married. Priestley has a boxing match with his dad, then leaves for bootcamp. Olds goes to college and meets a girl when he does one of those "how many people can fit into a phone booth" things for his Instagram. The end.

Three young boys admire their hero, McGuffin Monroe.

Image by Columbia Pictures via IMDB

So, ugh. There are parts of this movie that I really, really liked. Priestley is cast wonderfully as an early 60s teen heartthrob/rebel. The scenes where he, Olds, and O'Connell are talking about or dealing with their impending adulthood and pretty well written and interesting. Chubby Checker has a small cameo, as himself, which is pretty cool.

But then, there's the silly hitman subplot, which is pretty wacky. Stephen Tobolowsky and Kurt Fuller do a good job with it though. And of course, the biggest offender is the Celebrity Stalking. The message of this movie is "Hey Boys, if you stalk and harass a girl you like, if you break into her house to ask her out, you'll eventually wear herb down and she'll decide to go out with you!"

Critics, rightly, were not keen on this movie. Through they were more critical of Priestley than I feel he deserves. I thought he was great. But maybe that's because I have a Priestley man-crush. Brandon > Dylan. Sorry, not sorry. Calendar Girl had a $13 million budget but only brought in $2 million at the box office.

Wipe that grin off your face, O'Connell. I know what happens to you in Scream 2.

Image by Columbia Pictures via IMDB

Funny enough, this movie is loosely based on a real story. A gentleman by the name of Gene Scanlon crossed the country, with a friend, from New Jersey to the west coast. They made it to Hollywood, met Marilyn, and she took him out on a date and paid for it. It doesn't look like there was crazy stalking involved though, and it was not on the eve of her tragic death. He was on the old game show, I've Got a Secret, and you can see his clip here. It's honestly pretty funny and worth a watch.

Final Verdict:

This movie was not as offensive or as bad as, say, Bonfire of the Vanities. At least in my opinion. I won't give it zero stars. But I'll give it one because of the positive portrayal of stalking. Sorry. I really liked several of the scenes in this, which is why I'm going to give it a little bit better of a break. If they had spent the movie dealing with the coming-of-age bits, watching Marilyn from a respectable distance, maybe a scene where they accidentally end up bumping into her... I would have been down with that. But that isn't what we get. We get something that encourages you to bring a cow to a celebrities home, tresspass, and break in to ask them put. And then get dejected when you get rejected. Pass.

I would especially warn against Marilyn Monroe fans seeing this movie, as it's likely to make you rage. Not only is the whole stalking angle pretty uncomfortable, but the portrayal feels wrong. She's pretty normal, just going about her day-to-day business, if also somewhat lonely. Not in the state of mind of someone who's about to die of a drug overdose. Or be assassinated by the U.S. Government. As if! This isn't My Week with Marilyn.

What's your favorite Marilyn Monroe movie? My favorite movie with her in it is All About Eve. But as for a staring role, it's Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. 

Image Source

These are just my humble opinions, though, not to be taken as gospel truth. Just Watch
has options where you can stream it online. Give it a view and let me know your opinion!

Next time, a serious movie. A thriller set in contemporary Ireland and London. Stephen Rea, Miranda Richardson, Jaye Davidson, and Forest Whitaker star in 1992's acclaimed The Crying Game. Does The Crying Game hold up to the hype of one of the greatest Irish films of all time? Or is it a game you'd rather lose? Find out next time!

Dog Park (1998)

Image by New Line Cinema/Lions Gate Entertainment via IMDB

Hello friends! Sorry, it's been a minute since I made a new post. I spent the first part of last week sick, I couldn't eat anything without massive stomach pains. Then life got super busy and I had no time or mental energy to do any writing for several days. But things are less crazy now and physically and mentally I feel better, so onward!

Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs and their fans for winning the Super Bowl yesterday against my 49ers. San Francisco has nothing to be ashamed of, both teams played well. But we could have won if only we had paid off the officials instead of the Chiefs... haha I'm just playing. We got outplayed, fair and simple. Good game. And how about that halftime show? JLo and Shakira killed it! Talk about a 90s throwback in a 90s blog...

Okay, now with the review!

Take Four Weddings and a Funeral. Remove the heart, story, charm, humor, and chemistry. Add some cute dogs. You get Dog Park!

Image by New Line Cinema/Lions Gate Entertainment via Who Dated Who

Dog Park starts out after Luke Wilson and his girlfriend, Kathleen Robertson, have already broken up. She left him for a punk rocker. Wilson then meets Natasha Henstridge. He then tries, and fails, to start a relationship with her. It turns out that Henstridge is still broken hearted about her ex-boyfriend, who by coincidence left her to date Robertson. Wilson doesn't find out about that until way later. There are other characters, including one played by Janeane Garofalo, who is way too good for this movie.

The problem is, no one really does anything interesting. The characters meander about and tell unfunny jokes. There are about six or seven characters, that are all having affairs on each other, with each other. Or their ex is dating someone else in this circle. And they all met at the... dog park.

The only single funny moment of the entire movie was when Luke Wilson hears a dog is named Owen, and he makes fun of it. "Owen? That's a terrible name." That knock on his real-life brother, Owen Wilson, made me laugh out loud. It made me want to go and watch other Luke or Owen Wilson movies, to see if they take pot shots at each other like that in other films.

Dog Park was written and directed by Kids in the Hall alumni Bruce McCulloch. It was released on September 14, 1998 in Canada but not for another year in America, on September 24, 1999. I couldn't find the budget of this movie, but it made only $250K at the box office, so I'm pretty sure it didn't make its money back. It was pretty poorly received, there's a reason you haven't heard of it. Not much else to say about this one.

The cast brought dogs to one of the showings, which is rad. Robertson brought a Dachshund, which makes her my favorite part of this movie.

Image by Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com via IMDB

So since the movie part of the review was so short, I'm gonna spend the rest of this blog post talking about dogs.

I grew up with Dachshunds and there have been 4 1/2 of them in my life. First there was Gretta. Then her daughter, Little Gretta. Also, my Aunt's dog, Gerta. Next was Gretta Marie, my grandparents dog, and later mine. Most recently is Lita, who is my friend's half-Dachshund/half-Chihuahua. Lita is one of really only two dogs that are super active in my life today, the other being my other friend's dog, Grant. Grant is a jindo-corgi-terrier mix and a rescue dog from a Korean dog farm.

Who would want to eat this good boy?

Image by me

I want to talk about Gretta Marie today. My grandparents got her in 1994/95, after moving down from the Bay Area to Riverside County. I remember the first time I saw her. My mother, kid brother, and I were going down for a visit. The grandparents met us halfway and picked us up for the rest of the trip. Gretta was still a puppy and it was a long car ride. She was in my lap and ended up peeing on me, not once, but twice.

My favorite story with her also is about pee. It was one morning, while she was still pretty young, she was sleeping with me. My mother called her to eat and to let her into the backyard to use the bathroom. It was pouring rain. The dog waddled up to the backdoor, took one look outside, and then spun around and ran back to my room as fast as she could, to get back in bed with me. She was panicking. Dogs don't like the rain and she was no exception. That was one of the few parts I liked about Bonfire of the Vanities, the Dachshund that Tom Hanks had that didn't want to go for a walk in the rain.

In 2001, my grandfather moved in with us, and she basically became the family dog. She became my responsibility in 2010, when my grandfather moved to live near my aunt, and Gretta stayed with my brother and I. She passed away in 2011, old as hell. Those last few months were not great for her, and I regret selfishly not trying to put her down. Maybe she wouldn't have had to suffer like she did. I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

Only picture I currently have of her on my phone. I miss her.

Image by me

Out of all the dogs I mentioned earlier, this is the one I have the most memories with and spent the most time with. I still miss her, she was a good dog. But I love Lita and Grant, even though they aren't my dog. Once, I dogsat Grant and a few weeks later found out that he stole one of my shirts. He would pull it out and roll around on it, I guess he liked the smell.

But let's get back to the movie, before I start getting all emotional.

Final Verdict:

I have a hard time recommending this movie to anyone. It's unoffensive and it doesn't do anything super wrong. It's just boring. The writing is lame and unfunny (except for the one joke about Owen Wilson). The acting is stilted. It's like a plain slice of white bread, but ya know... the store brand, not the tasty name brand. It won't kill you or give you food poisoning, but there are better sandwich options out there. I'm really only giving it 2 stars for the bevy of dogs in the movie. They're adorable, but not a reason to see it.

I like Dachshunds and I can not lie, you other brothers can't deny.

Image Source

That's my take on it. If you want to see it yourself, my favorite "is it streaming?" website Just Watch lists all the options.

Next time, we have a look at a movie about Marilyn Monroe. Or rather, some teenage boys who stalk Marilyn Monroe. Staring Jason Priestley and Jerry O'Connell, 1993's coming-of-age film, Calendar Girl. Is this a movie you should mark on your calendar to see? Or something you should throw out with the new year? Find out next time!