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The Crying Game (1992)

A review by Damian Cannon.
Copyright © Movie Reviews UK 1997
A highly original tale, The Crying Game begins as a typical civil war thriller and transmutes into an alluring and strange love story. Opening in Northern Ireland, Jody (Forest Whitaker), a young British soldier, is relaxing at the fair with Jude (Miranda Richardson), a woman he met earlier in a bar. They seem to get on well together, laughing and joking, and end up wandering away from the hubbub to get more intimate. However, just as they're settling down, three men appear out of nowhere, with guns drawn, and drag Jody away. After a hectic car journey the gang, led by idealists Maguire (Adrian Dunbar) and Jude, explain the situation. One of their high-ranking officers has been captured and they want to do a swap, otherwise they'll shoot Jody within three days. Jody tries to stay cool, which is hard with a bag over your head, but ends up talking to one of his captors, Fergus (Stephen Rea). The tense atmosphere is affecting everyone and Fergus, on his first mission, is happy to chat, while Jody encourages his kind nature. The other terrorists react badly to this budding friendship, knowing that it'll make killing the hostage harder, but Jody has time to ask Fergus to look up his girlfriend in London. He knows he's going to die and, sure enough, the time comes.

Fergus volunteers to carry out the execution and they march into the woods, where Jody persuades him to remove the hood. They talk as they walk until, suddenly, Jody breaks into a run and makes for freedom. Fergus won't shoot him in the back and gives chase, although Jody is surprisingly lithe for his size. Unfortunately he runs into the road and straight into an armoured car, which crushes him and disgorges British troops. Under attack, Fergus dives for cover while the rest of his team are massacred in a hail of gunfire. With such a disaster, Fergus flees Ireland and ends up in London, working on a building site. As there's nothing else to do he checks out Dil (Jaye Davidson), perhaps with the intention of following Jody's last wishes. Working as a hairdresser, Dil looks beautiful, vulnerable and in need of friend, which Fergus is happy to supply. Their relationship grows closer, although Fergus is tormented by his evasion of the past and Dil has secrets of her own.

Tragically, Ireland hasn't forgotten Fergus and turns up in his flat, in the shape of Jude. She survived the shambles of the previous operation and looks keen to kill him, except that (with his false identity) he could be useful. Using Dil as a bargaining piece, she convinces him to take part in an assassination that she and Maguire have planned, of a "legitimate target". These are exceptionally dangerous times for Fergus since he wants to protect Dil from his IRA past yet he can't tell her anything about it, partly as further protection and partly because of his involvement in the death of Jody. Since Jody was, apparently, the only man who really loved Dil for what she is, admitting his complicity would be the death sentence for their love. Jude isn't going to wait though, happy for him to attempt this suicide mission, and it looks as though there's no way out for Fergus.

Riding a script full of twists, with a cast which are able to follow these turns convincingly, The Crying Game emerges as a rather enjoyable movie. Disregarding the hype, Neil Jordan shows great maturity in handling subjects which are perfect for stereotyping with a firm, open-minded touch. That love, whatever its form, can triumph over all adversity is a common theme in cinema, yet here the story remains fresh and vibrant. The fine acting helps of course, particularly that of Jaye Davidson, in breathing life into the characters, although it's a brave film which kills one of its stars early on. Continuing from this shocking event, the film never descends to palming us off with easy, Hollywood-like solutions - the ending is entirely reasonable and still leaves us with room to hope. It's true that there are some flaws in the plot and, perhaps, some superfluous scenes but the result is, definitely, memorable.

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