Yeah, I know that The Crying Game has been spoofed to the point where it almost makes the twist ending seem comical, but the first time I saw this movie it took me completely by surprise. It sucked me in, and held me there for just a smidgen under two hours. Having not seen the movie in a few years, and already knowing how it was going to end, I wasn't sure how well it would hold up for a repeat, but thankfully, my fears were put to rest and The Crying Game remains a great movie.

Forest Whitaker (Ghost Dog: Way Of The Samurai) plays Jody, a British soldier who winds up the victim of an IRA kidnapping in Northern Ireland. The Irish terrorists that are holding him are lead by a man named Fergus (Stephen Rea of Michael Collins) who, though very much committed to his cause, isn't exactly your typical guerilla soldier. He's a man of some morals, and doesn't want to have to execute Jody in the name of a free Ireland, but he will if the British government doesn't release some IRA members that they are currently holding in prison.

As Fergus keeps watch over Jody in their remote hideout somewhere in the woods, the two start to get to know each other through a few conversations. Jody shows Fergus a photograph of his girlfriend and asks him to find her if he is to be executed, to let her know and make sure she's all right.

Fergus soon relocates to London, where, under the guise of a construction worker, he begins to track down Jody's girlfriend, Dil (Jaye Davidson of Stargate). He finds her working in as a hair stylist and after having his hair cut, he follows her from work to a local pub. The two have a conversation and their attraction to one another is soon made quite apparent by the way that they interact with each other – through their body language, and through some rather curious glances.

As Fergus and Dil get to know each other a little bit better and start develop a relationship together, things start to get a little odd between them. Though there's an obvious affection towards one another, there's also a sense of distrust that seeps up and bubbles just above the surface of it all. Part of that stems from Fergus, in that he's partially responsible for her boyfriend's death, but it isn't completely one sided at all, as Fergus will soon find out. To further complicate things, the IRA isn't completely done with Fergus – they still consider him a member, more specifically a member with a job to do – and one of his former comrades, Jude (Miranda Richardson of Sleepy Hollow) is going to make sure he knows it.

What's so remarkable about the film is how it makes you care about Fergus without really telling you anything about him as a person. You don't get much background information on him at all but in spite of that he makes for a great lead. The film does an admirable job of blurring the lines between love and revenge (what was Jody's motive for telling Fergus about Dil in the first place?), and between man and woman.

The biggest strength of The Crying Game, though it has many, are the two leads – Stephen Rea and Jaye Davidson were both award Oscar nominations for their parts, and deservedly so. They both do an excellent job of portraying their characters' emotions not only through the scripted dialogue but also, quite convincingly, with their body language. Not only are they able to act the part, but they each look the part as well and as we all know that can make a big difference in the believability factor. Forest Whitaker and Miranda Richardson are also excellent in their supporting roles. Whitaker is sympathetic despite his rugged looks, sometimes resembling a rather menacing teddy-bear, while Richardson is cold, calculating, and just a little bit on the sexy side as one of Fergus' IRA cohorts.

The accolades don't end there though – Neil Jordan, who wrote and directed the film, took home an Academy Award for his screenplay (adapted from an Irish short story entitled A Guest Of The Nation that was originally written by Frank O'Connor. The script allows the actors to build tension the way that they do and doesn't muddle things down at all with obviously plot driven dialogue – the conversations that the two leads conduct sound like real conversations rather than forced 'let's get the story going' trite so common in most 'by the books' screenplays, often times riddled with cliches and the like.

Finally, it wouldn't be fair to praise the film without mentioning the languid and dark cinematography from Ian Wilson, who cut his teeth on a couple of Hammer horror films like Captain Cronos Vampire Hunter and Quartermass. His experience in low budget horror movies pays off in the look of this film (also of a rather modest budget), also a very dark movie that Wilson ensures has a great deal of shadowy intrigue in its appearance.

Video:

The brand new 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer looks very, very good. In previous home video releases the blacks always looked kind of smudged and the image wasn't as clear or clean as it should have been. Lion's Gate has cleaned up the picture considerably and now the film looks very good indeed.

Aliasing issues are almost completely eliminated and edge enhancement is minimal. Mpeg compression artifacts are never a problem and print damage is only really noticeable in one or two spots and that's if you're looking for it in the first place. The color reproduction looks very natural, as do the skin tones. The nasty shimmering effects and compression artifacts that plagued the earlier Region One DVD release from Artisan have thankfully pretty much been shown the door on this new release. Considering how much of the film takes place in dimly right rooms and smoky bars, it's important to make sure that the authoring properly represents the darker scenes properly, and thankfully Lion's Gate has come through this time.