The Crying Game

Starring: Stephen Rea, Forrest Whitaker, Miranda Richardson

Intelligent, adult (in the sense of, um, intelligent), engrossing thriller. The catch is that the first quarter (with an outstanding Forrest Whitaker as a hostage British soldier) is so good that the film is bound to slip after that. Good as the latter parts are, they can never match the mix of humor, suspense, and humanism that defined the early sections. Superb performances by Whitaker and Rea, and very strong directing by Jordan. Ironically, the big plot twist is something of a letdown; I kept waiting for it to pay off more, but it never did. Aside from the novelty of it, and the opportunities it provides for a few good lines (not to mention the chance to make the audience uncomfortable) I'm not sure it needed to be there at all. To say more would be to give it away, but I'll be happy to discuss it in person. (12/19/92)