As formally conventional "real-life story" docudramas
go, Boys Don't Cry is about as good as it gets, carried
by Hilary Swank's completely winning performance as Brandon Teena/Teena
Brandon. Teena's effort to pass as a man long enough to fully
capture the heart of some good woman, in this case Chloe Sevigny's
gritty Lana, easily enlists the viewer's empathy (much more so
than the murderous subterfuge of Matt Damon in The Talented
Mr. Ripley), while Peirce effectively builds toward Brandon's
pre-ordained doom. It helps that Peter Saarsgard's character John
is charismatic and conflicted, rather than a cookie-cutter ignorant
cracker, and the rest of the casting is also good. When Peirce
takes creative license at the end with the "facts" of
the story, the movie generally suffers, both in plausibility and
drippy feelgood factor.