The Crying Game (1992) ****

Before starting my review of The Crying Game I must let you know that if you know the big plot twist in the film it isn’t a major turning point in the film and doesn’t take away from the overall experience. If you don’t know the twist, then forget I said anything.

A British solider named Jody (Forrest Whittaker) is kidnapped by IRA terrorists and held for ransom, mainly a prisoner exchange. While being held at a small, deserted farmstead in the woods he befriends Fergus (Steven Rea), one of his captors who butts heads with his fellow IRA colleague Jude (Miranda Richardson). After the abrupt death of Jody and an attack by British troops, Fergus travels to London to fulfill a promise he made Jody to look in on the love of his life Dil (Jaye Davidson). A relationship blossoms between this rough and tumble singer and the ex-IRA terrorist that is threatened to be torn apart by his past.

Like films such as Full Metal Jacket, The Crying Game feels like two films combined into one. Opening in Ireland and the events with Jody, the picture drops us into a completely different world in which clubbing and living the lifestyle are king. There is nothing left for Fergus to fight for in this rich new land, except for Dil and the ghost of Jody that seems to haunt him as he goes along. Neil Jordan delivers a film that is hypnotic in the way it operates and flows from scene to scene, even though we stay in the same familiar places in each section of the film.

Steven Rea is magnificent as the confused terrorist Fergus, originally confused by the war he was involved in and now confused by his relationship with Dil. Rea has real presence on the screen and achieves that sympathy that an actor in such a situation needs. Among the rest of the cast this is a well performed film with little to be ashamed about. It’s a fantastic film that travels without us going anywhere because of its performances.

Of course The Crying Game is remembered for one thing. It’s much more than that one particular scene and it still doesn’t change the overall tone of the film. A great film from the early 1990’s when movies were starting to climb from the doldrums of the 1980’s.