The Crying Game (1992)
She’s one in a Dil-lion
Aha, thought you could escape from the IRA (ILTBTA Reader Association) undetected? Not so fast! Welcome back to I’d Like To Blank The Academy, where we’re sobbing along with 1992’s The Crying Game. It’s a bit of a bummer as the name suggests, but perhaps the fact that it’s the 30th anniversary of this film and both of your authors will cheer you up. Pour yourself a Loneliness Margarita, practice your Irish accent where no one can hear you, and read on!
Previews
What, if anything, did we know about this coming attraction before we watched it?
Ellen: Sounds like a bummer, eh?
Tyler: If you asked me what a movie from the 90s called The Crying Game was about, I would’ve guessed it was a rom-com starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant that served as inspiration for How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days. So color me delightfully surprised when I found out during my research for Ellen’s Pick Three options that it was basically the exact opposite of that. Let this serve as yet another example of the old adage “Never judge a movie by its title.”
Plots & Feelings
This one’s pretty self-explanatory.
Short Version (courtesy of IMDb): A British soldier kidnapped by the IRA soon befriends one of his captors, who then becomes drawn into the soldier's world.
Long Version (modified from Wikipedia and formatted to fit your screen):
After slowly panning across a bridge in a rural area, we open on an idyllic-looking fair. Amidst the frivolity and good clean fun, we meet British soldier Jody. While he is not great at ring toss, he still manages to win the Irish Jude a teddy bear.1 He is also not great at remembering names because he forgot hers already, clearly more focused on PDA with his cute Irish arm candy. Knowing this, Jude lures Jody away from the carnival by promising sex, which obviously works because Jody is a himbo. Before things get too far, though, men with guns arrive! They kidnap Jody as our honeypot Jude flees down the beach.
Tyler: The only thing weirder than telling a girl you appear to have just met "I gotta piss" is holding her hand while you actually piss. I need some hand sanitizer after watching that.
Jody is hooded and driven to a remote safehouse/lair by whom? The Irish Republican Army, baby! His captors explain that they plan to hold him hostage until one of their imprisoned compatriots in Castlerea is released. If a deal is not reached within three days, they will kill Jody; that’s it, that’s the deal. Jody is offered tea and crumpets whilst still be-hooded, but he remains statuesque and a complete mystery2 to his male captors. Jude, having changed from a “seductive” jean skirt/jacket combo into a cable knit sweater, fills the gents in on their prize: a “horny bastard,” and no lies were detected. Jude seems pretty horny herself, as she and Fergus, one of the male captors, spend the night together.
Tyler: 30 minutes in and I'm starting to think Wikipedia may have misled us about this being a “thriller.”
The next day, to prove he’s already seen Fergus’ face, Jody describes him as “the handsome one,” which is generous in this author’s opinion. The team decides since he’s already seen Fergus, he can take the hood off only in front of him. After Jody roasts Fergus for proving his “handsome one” statement wrong, the two talk about a lot of stuff: Jody’s actual type of margarita-drinking woman (doesn’t explain what he was making out with Jude for …), being from Antigua, cricket, how folks in Ireland will still call you the n-word to your face … and weirdly bond over Fergus having to help Jody pee3, since his hands are literally tied. Their bonding irks IRA leader Peter, who demands they have minimal contact since Fergus might have to shoot Jody in a couple days. He stops just about short of saying “don’t play with your food.” As their unlikely bonding continues, Jody tells Fergus about The Scorpion and the Frog.
Ellen: I’m going to have trouble connecting with Jody if he keeps referring to himself in the third person, bruv.
Tyler: Tyler agrees with you.
When the bar lights come on (Source)
The next day, Peter tells Fergus that their guy is starting to talk, so he’ll have to kill Jody in the morning. Fergus asks to guard him that night, because it will make him feel better. Their conversation takes an understandably serious turn, and Fergus sums up the IRA position as simply as “you guys shouldn’t be here.” Jody implores Fergus to find Dil, the woman from the photo in his wallet, if the worst should happen to him and say he was thinking of her in the end. The next morning, it’s time for the worst to happen. Fergus leads Jody out of the greenhouse and into the woods to kill him. Jody seemingly exploits their friendship and flees, with Fergus giving chase but unable to shoot Jody in the back. Just when it seems he’s going to let him go, he’s hit by a dang tank!! A British helicopter rains bullets down on the compound, and now it’s Fergus’ turn to flee.
Tyler: Much like Jody, I did NOT see that tank coming.
Ellen: Seriously! I thought Fergus was going to accidentally-on-purpose let Jody go, and the rest of the movie would be Fergus trying to redeem himself to the IRA by hunting him down.
Fergus gets an old friend to get him passage across the water, and he takes Jody’s wallet to try and find Dil. He goes to her hair salon and Dil gives him a trim, but he doesn’t say who he is and lets her think he’s Scottish. Fergus follows Dil to a neighborhood bar called the Metro, where he sits across from her and her Loneliness Margarita and they flirt via the bartender. After Dil leaves alone, some bitch ass named Dave slaps her outside? Hell naw. Fergus (having told Dil his name is Jimmy) follows them, and watches as the unhappy couple goes into an apartment to hook up for what Dil says is the last time. Sometime later back at the Metro, Dil’s onstage singing “The Crying Game.”4 Ugh Dave is back too: we hate Dave. He drags Dil away, saying she promised. “Jimmy” comes out because she forgot her bag, and it ends up with his foot on Dave’s throat. He walks her home, they kiss, and the next night they go on a date!
Ellen: You never know how people singing in movies is going to go, and she’s got a very deep, pleasant voice.
Tyler: This has managed to surprise me so far, but I really hope the rest of the movie isn't as predictable as "he doesn't tell her, falls in love, eventually tells her, she gets upset, but they eventually make up.”
They go back into her apartment, and after she throws out Dave’s belongings, including a teddy bear and goldfish, they get down to it. He’s asking about the guy in the photo (Jody), but she says he’s dead, and she says she’s in mourning. He keeps asking about Jody, and she’s like “is this an obsession or what” and he says he wants to look out for her. They’re going to hook up and it’s going well, and she puts on a robe and reveals … not what he was expecting. He kind of panics and hits her in the face on his way to the bathroom to heave.
Tyler: Did you see the #surprisepenis coming at all? You had mentioned earlier in the movie that Dil has a deep voice, so between that, her more masculine features, and her hesitancy letting Fergus move his hands up her pants, there were certainly some bread crumbs left along the way.
Ellen: I did not! I felt just about as shocked as Fergus looked, though I didn’t throw up like he did.
After arguing at the Metro, Fergus/Jimmy leaves an apology note, and Dil comes to meet him at work. Through whistles, catcalls, and disapproval from his boss (to which Fergus replies “You ever pick your teeth up with broken fingers?”5), the two reconcile. Fergus, though, is still rather hung up on who knows and who doesn’t, and Dil suggests he pretend, but he can’t pretend that much. Fergus arrives at his apartment and EEEEK! Jude was sitting there in the dark, like the dang freak she is. She explains that two of their fellow IRA members died, and she and Peter just barely escaped. Good ole Pete wanted to put a bullet in his head, but she said they should find out what happened first. Even though Fergus royally messed up, he’s become quite the Mr. Nobody, and that can be very useful for their plans. He asks her to leave Dil out of it, and she’s like lol of course we won’t.
Case in point: cut to Jude having her very blunt new red hair cut by Dil. He takes Dil to dinner and is still trying to get her to stop calling him honey and dear, but, uh, bigger problems: Jude is at the next table over! They abscond to the Metro, and somehow Jude beat them there! She and Dil spar and eventually she leaves, and Dil does too with a “fuck you Jimmy.” He leaves to follow her, and Jude scoops him into the back of a car, where it’s Peter! He’s, uh, a little upset, if we can tell by the cigarette he puts out on Fergus’ hand. They want him to kill some judge as he’s coming out of an upscale brothel. It’ll basically be suicide, but that’s Jimmy’s problem now! They make him “rehearse” the plan, and before leaving, Jude says she’ll bring his gear to his work tomorrow. Oops, Dil followed them! She’s jealous. They go to the salon, and he cuts her hair!!! He wants to make her into someone nobody recognizes. They go back to her place, and they start making out and he puts her in Jody’s old clothes, and she is so confused but she said she’d do anything for him… so??? He takes her to a hotel to hide.
Ellen: Look, I get that the idea is he’s keeping Dil in the dark for her protection or whatever, but he is being WEIRD and explaining NOTHING, plus Jude keeps finding Dil anyway. As a viewer I was pretty distressed, so Dil had to feel even worse.
BUSTED (Source)
At work the next day, Fergus gets the assassination stuff6 from Jude, but returns to an empty hotel room. He later finds Dil drunkenly wandering the park across from her apartment with a bottle of Jameson, thinking he left her, because he hasn’t explained a damn thing. As he goes to leave, she says “I can’t help what I am.” With Dil in bed full of pills, he finally tells her about Jody. She’s pretty mellow about the whole thing, but asks him not to leave, and they lay side by side in her bed.
In the morning, she ties him to the bed, gets his gun from his bag, and is like “explain yourself.” This is intercut with scenes of Jude getting ready for violence. Dil seems to have finally registered what he said last night, but he’s trying to get to his murder appointment7! But again, seeing as he’s explained nothing, she’s not having it. Peter, realizing Fergus isn’t going to show, does it himself and gets got in the process. Jude, having fled the crime scene, comes bursting in, and Dil shoots her, connecting the dots that Jude was there when Jody died. Dil is in shock, and she’s going to swallow a bullet but Fergus stops her and gets her to run, staying behind to wipe her prints off the gun and wait for the police to arrive.
Tyler: That was a nice full circle moment with Fergus now being the one in captivity begging for his life.
Some time later, based on Dil’s hair (Wikipedia says “a few months”), Dil visits Fergus in prison. With 2,335 days left in his sentence (almost 6.5 years!), Dil remains devoted, and Fergus does not know how he feels about that, but he is a kind guy: it’s just in his nature. The movie closes with Fergus telling Dil the story of the Scorpion and the Frog.
Ellen: 6.5 years does not seem like a long enough sentence for murder? Though Jude did break in with a very blunt haircut and threaten them first.
Intermission
Even though ILTBTA is free, please indulge us further and enjoy this quick “advertisement.”
This installment of ILTBTA is brought to you by … the Greater Belfast Fairgrounds!
Here at the Greater Belfast Fairgrounds, you’ll have no Trouble having fun! We have games galore, rides assembled by our expert carnies, and the finest prizes that China has to offer. After building up an appetite during the fun and games, there’s plenty of soda bread and stew to go around.
Tickets are selling Bel-fast, so act now! Tell the ticket taker at the entrance that ILTBTA sent you and receive a free potato!
Get off your chair, grab some air, and have some fun there without a care! Where’s “there”? The fair! (Need childcare? Look elsewhere.)
Wiki-Wiki-Whaaat?
Love a good Wikipedia rabbit hole in search of some fun facts? Us too.
The Crying Game’s Wikipedia page has some interesting facts and anecdotes that we recommend you read through, but here are a few of our favorites:
The Crying Game writer and director Neil Jordan won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, with the film receiving five other nominations. Jordan also: wrote and directed a “gothic fantasy horror” movie called The Company of Wolves starring the late great Angela Lansbury that was “a dark and sexually-themed reimagining” of Little Red Riding Hood; directed Interview with a Vampire starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Kirsten Dunst; and created, wrote, and executive produced the Showtime TV show The Borgias.
Jordan had trouble securing financing for the film due to his previous box office flops and difficulty finding a male actor who could conceivably pass as a woman. He was eventually introduced to Jaye Davidson, whose portrayal of Dil was his acting debut, by another director. Financing issues continued throughout filming, with costume designer Sandy Powell lending Davidson some of her own clothes since they happened to be the same size.
The film was originally going to be called The Soldier’s Wife, but Jordan’s friend Stanley Kubrick advised against it, saying it would lead audiences to expect a war movie.
Tyler: Similar to how the Wikipedia page calls it a “thriller.” Where were you on that one, Stanley?
Largely a box-office flop in the U.K. and Ireland, The Crying Game found success in the United States due in part to a marketing strategy by Miramax that asked audiences not to reveal Dil’s “secret.” It must’ve worked because it became the most successful movie released in the U.S. that year on a cost-to-gross basis.
Oscar NomNomNomz
Since we all know a movie is nothing without the food and drink it incorporates.
It’s now time to award the Oscar for Best Snacktor in a Supporting Role.8 And the nomnomnominees are:
A cup of tea from IRA captors
A margarita from Metro
A shot of mysterious liquor from the bartender Col
And the Oscar goes to … the margarita from Metro! Unfortunately, Tyler sent it back because the rim had salt and not sugar, so Ellen will accept this award on its behalf.
Fill In The Blank
How did we really feel about The Academy nominating this?
Ellen: I’d like to buy the Academy a drink at Metro and kind of just stare at it together. Dil’s fashion was the most fun part of this movie, and I’m kind of still ruminating about everything else. It’s not a bad movie by any means: well-acted, appropriately tense, surprising plot points. There’s just not a lot of… passion in it. Dil kind of explains why she’s so willing to devote herself to Fergus/Jimmy, but his downtrodden broodiness isn’t particularly endearing. His chemistry with Jody was off the charts in comparison! I personally would have been interested in more context for the Irish/British conflict, but I get that it’s not really what this movie is about. At the end of the day, not my cup of tea.
Tyler: I’d like to take the Academy back to the fair so it can actually have some fun. I totally agree that it checks a lot of boxes for what makes a “good” movie, it just seemed to be missing something. This may be an English-teacher-like reach for a metaphor, but with each major haircut that Dil gave (first Fergus/Billy then Jude), the movie seemed to shift into something different: from Troubles-focused prisoner standoff to 90s “I have a secret that I won’t share until the end” love story to revenge action thriller at the end. And while I definitely think it’s possible for a movie to nail multiple genres at once (see: Parasite), none of the three different acts were fleshed out enough or “endearing” (as you put it) for me to get truly sucked in.
I do give it credit, though, for featuring a transgender character and using Fergus as a potential vehicle for the audience to also realize that (gasp!) trans people are also worthy of love and respect. This during a time when it was presumably pretty taboo to do so. Alas, not my cup of tea either. Which makes sense, because I do not like tea.
Let The Credits Roll
Thanks for reading! Some quick housekeeping as you exit the theatre:
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If you’d like to start a wild Best Picture journey of your own, feel free to download a copy of The Spreadsheet. Bonus: checking off the boxes is oddly satisfying.
Post-Credits Scene
Get a sneak peek at the next ILTBTA installment.
Given that our next post will come out on Election Day, we’re getting a little political by covering Good Night, and Good Luck, the 2005 historical drama about legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow and his conflict with the fear mongering Senator Joseph McCarthy during the anti-Communist Red Scare. Starring David Strathairn (“That guy from that thing!”) as Murrow and George Clooney (who also directed it) as his producer, GN&GL follows Murrow’s reactions to a bunch of politicians who abuse their power in the name of patriotism to attack those they disagree with … so it, uh, could be extra relevant soon!
Good Night, and Good Luck is available to rent from all the usual places. And for goodness sake, please vote!
Until then, beware the Lying Dame!
This does not appear to be the titular crying game.
Sounds like my ex-wife!
Tyler: So both Jude and Fergus are intimately familiar with Jody’s urination. Cool?
Cue both of us saying “Oooooooh”
12/10 cool threat, no notes
Our use of the phrase “assassination stuff” should tell you how familiar we are with weapons.
He’s late, he’s late, for a very violent date!
Results tabulated and certified by the accountants at Ernst & Yum™.