The critics said at the time of "The Crying Game's" release that no one should reveal the secret of the film. In today's ever-changing critical lens, the secret of the film wouldn't have seemed so shocking. 30-plus years have passed since Neil Jordan's best film made a splash, and the shock isn't new nor particularly out of its element. The shock is that the film's twist proves to be more revealing about the main character and his own prejudices about a world he knows nothing about. That is the strength of "The Crying Game" and what makes it a cut above any romantic thriller - its complex pulse rings true on the notions of what love really entails between two people.
I say romantic thriller and that might still be a disservice to the joys of an ever-twisting, surprising film built on emotions and people, first and foremost. You wouldn't know it from the opening of the film (though hearing Percy Sledge's famous song "When a Man Loves a Woman" might be a clue) when we see an adult man frolicking about with a sexy woman at an amusement park. Nothing odd about any of this - it could simply be a romantic relationship when, in fact, the adult man just met the woman. He is a British soldier named Jody (Forest Whitaker) and he just wants sex with the woman, Jude (Miranda Richardson), who is in fact an IRA member. Jody is hooded and kidnapped and held hostage until the IRA's demands of an imprisoned member of their army is released. Stephen Rea is Fergus, who holds Jody at gunpoint. Eventually the two start forming some sort of banter and identifying with each other, the very thing Fergus shouldn't do since he may have to execute Jody if the IRA's demands are not met.
"The Crying Game" could have been an effective thriller about the differentiating politics in Ireland and Britain, particularly during a troubling time with the IRA. The movie hints at politics and racism and then Jody manages to escape and is killed in a horrific run-in with a tank. The IRA's hiding place had been uncovered as well, and most of them are killed by the British Army. Fergus escapes in the woods and finds solace in London working in construction. He also seeks out Jody's girlfriend, Dil (Jaye Davidson), who is a hairdresser and occasionally sings a cover version of Boy George's "The Crying Game" at the Metro bar. Fergus and Dil form a fast romance that leads to a shocker, though Fergus should've known that Dil was more than she appeared to be. It is no shock or surprise to reveal Dil's secret since it has been parodied countless times ("Naked Gun 33 1/3" for starters). But the beauty of Neil Jordan's beautifully constructed screenplay is how it humanizes everyone - these are people who have their own insecurities and problems like everyone else. This film is a companion piece to Jordan's quixotic "Mona Lisa," which also had it share of surprises and discoveries with an even harsher light in its depiction of the London criminal underground.
Of all of Neil Jordan's films, "The Crying Game" has the smoothest textures of a poetic treatise on characters that normally do not lend to such ambitious avenues of exploration. Rea's Fergus is a volunteer IRA member who doesn't quite have the guts to kill someone, yet Rea shows that he can harm anyone if they cross him. Davidson is the soul of "The Crying Game," and she can get "tired and emotional" when it comes to loving someone. She wants to be loved - concrete, requited love. Fergus wants it too and, here with "The Crying Game," we get one of the most unusual love stories I have ever seen with politics and race as its backbone where love dominates all.
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