Watch The Crying Game For Free

People are voting emotionally.

Let's be realistic.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

It begins like a political thriller and develops into a romantic drama but what's most remarkable about "The Crying Game" is its incredible originality. It's essentially a piece about what it is to be human and the extent to which an individual's nature determines the directions that they take in life. The story that illustrates this is a real "one-off" and features a group of interesting characters whose awareness of their own nature and that of other people, varies considerably. The events depicted and the issues raised must've been challenging for many audiences at first and so it's rather surprising that in the years since the release of this film, that there haven't been more mainstream movies which have ventured into the same territory.During "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland, a British soldier called Jody (Forest Whitaker) befriends local girl Jude (Miranda Richardson) and after having some fun at a fairground, decides to move to somewhere a little quitter where they can be more intimate. As soon as they find a suitable spot, Jody finds himself being held at gunpoint and realises that he's been lured into a trap. He's taken hostage by an IRA cell whose members want to negotiate a prisoner exchange with the British Army and tell him that he'll be executed if their plan doesn't succeed within three days.In a remote country location, cell-member Fergus (Stephen Rea) is assigned to the task of guarding Jody and in the hours that follow, an unlikely friendship develops between them during which Jody shows Fergus a photograph of his girlfriend in London. The soldier, who's obviously convinced that his guard is a kind and decent man, says that if he's executed, he'd like Fergus to look up his girlfriend, buy her a maguerita and tell her that Jody was thinking of her. Fergus promises to do this and when it becomes evident that no prisoner exchange is going to be possible and Fergus will have to carry out the execution, what follows illustrates that Jody's judgement of what Fergus' nature will allow him to do, was completely accurate. Jody is, nevertheless, killed during the mayhem that follows when the Army suddenly raid the location where he'd been held hostage. Fergus is fortunate to escape and makes his way to London where he assumes a new identity, gets a job working on building site and locates Jody's girlfriend, Dil (Jaye Davidson), who's a hairdresser in Millie's Hair Salon. After availing himself of Dil's services for "a trim", he goes to the Metro (a pub which Jody had told him that Dil frequents) where they strike up a conversation and subsequently become an item. They both withhold important information about themselves and inevitably some of the revelations that follow cause problems which are not made any easier to resolve when Jude suddenly arrives from Ireland and threatens that Dil will suffer unless Fergus agrees to take part in a planned assassination which Fergus immediately recognises is nothing short of a suicide mission"The Crying Game" is skilfully written with each development following on very naturally from what preceded it. This is quite an achievement because some of the twists are extraordinary and shocking and the characters and their relationships are continuously full of surprises. The quality of the acting is exceptional throughout with Stephen Rea standing out as the naïve Fergus who initially has virtually no awareness of his own nature and then struggles to deal with the situations he finds himself in. Forest Whitaker is fascinating as the cricket-loving soldier from Tottenham because, whilst he clearly has considerable insight into the significance of an individual's nature, its never entirely clear in his exchanges with Fergus, whether there's an element of manipulation involved. Jaye Davidson is brilliantly cast as the mysterious Dil who, although appearing confident, is actually vulnerable and needy and Miranda Richardson is faultless as the ruthless terrorist, Jude."The Crying Game" is absolutely compelling to watch because it's so different, so affecting and such a human story. It's also very thought-provoking and the title song is ideal because its haunting quality fits the atmosphere of the piece so perfectly.

Looking back at The Crying Game after a quarter of a century from its cinema release, it still is an intriguing film. It also looks increasingly quaint because within two years of its release there was a rapprochement between the IRA and the British government that would eventually lead to the peace process.Jody (Forest Whitaker) is a British soldier in Northern Ireland who is befriended by Jude (Miranda Richardson) who is an IRA agent. She plans to lure him into a honey trap where he is kidnapped.Jody angry and shocked befriends Fergus (Stephen Rea) one of his kidnappers. They tell stories to each other, Jody talks of his passion for cricket and his girlfriend Dil (Jaye Davidson.) Jody asks Fergus to look up Dil after he is dead.When the times comes Fergus reluctantly takes up the task to shoot him but Jody runs away into the woods and is run over by an army van that was on its way to rescue him and engages in battle with some of the kidnappers.Fergus escapes and arrives to London, gets a job in a building site and finds Dil who works as an hairdresser and performs at a nearby pub. They initially communicate via Col the barman (Jim Broadbent.)Dil is being harassed by a bully called Dave and it is not long before Fergus's IRA comrades arrive. They are angry at him for escaping in the aftermath of the botched hit on Jody. Yet Fergus and Dil still manage to fall in love through all the obstacles that arise.The film has an opening of a kidnap thriller with angry performances from Miranda Richardson and Adrian Dunbar as the IRA operatives. It then deviates to another kind of story, one involving a blossoming romance between essentially two outsiders, damaged in their own ways. Dil grieving over her boyfriend who has been killed but not knowing of Fergus's involvement in it.There are now two Oscar winners in this film. Forest Whitaker's cockney accent makes Dick van Dyke's turn in Mary Poppins into a masterclass of accents. The more subtle performance is from Jim Broadbent as the knowing barman.There is a precocious, vulnerable performance from Jaye Davidson whose hands betray a secret which Fergus failed to pick up on. The film has characters that lacked depth and a third act which was clunky and disappointing as Fergus is lured to another job by his so called IRA friends.

Just like a stinging slap to the face - 1992's "The Crying Game" gleefully delivered its "surprise twist" with the heavy-handed blow of a true sadist..... I would easily say that this "club-one-over-the-head" surprise-twist business was undoubtedly the only real reason why anyone would ever remember "The Crying Game", which I found to be a disappointingly poor excuse for a movie if there ever was one.These cheap, sensationalistic tactics that were meant to surprise the audience quickly brought a fairly intriguing story that initially concerned IRA hostage-taking, and whatnot, to an absolute dead-halt. And from that point on-wards, "The Crying Game" literally wallowed in its "surprise twist" for the remainder of the story.With there being no mercy in sight - "The Crying Game" was shamelessly "trans"-formed (hint-hint) into a less-than-satisfying soap opera, where those trite, crass words "I love you" were only to be spoken with any real sincerity at the point of a gun.... And so, with that - It was shame-shame on "The Crying Game".... (sniffle-sniffle)

Jody (Forest Whitaker) is a British soldier lured and kidnapped by Jude (Miranda Richardson) and her IRA group with Fergus (Stephen Rea). Jody befriends Fergus and Jody tells him about his girlfriend Dil (Jaye Davidson). Jody runs away as Fergus follows reluctant to shoot him. By coincidence, the British army arrive to gun down the IRA group and accidentally runs over Jody. Fergus escapes and seeks out Dil, the London hairdresser.Writer/director Neil Jordan does something special here. There is a slightly homosexual tone between Jody and Fergus' interaction. It doesn't let on but it's constantly there. Of course it's about the shocking reveal. It certainly shocked me when I first saw it. At first glance, it could be seen as a simple gimmick. However watching it more than once, the whole movie is infused with that theme. The twist isn't something out of the blue and yet it's completely unexpected.