Wowee. I had heard the second hand buzz about this one being good, but.... damn. That was riveting.

I think I'm still in shock nearly 15 minutes after end credits roled up. Lemme take a few minutes to grab a bite to eat, and walk off some of this tension. brb... :)

...

Back, along with some freshly baked frozen pizza right from the oven. :)

And just for the record, I did not shed a single tear during this movie, although I came pretty damn close during some of those scenes.

This was a disturbing movie. This was an inspiring movie. It was disturbing because of the depth of human cruelty and inhumanity our species sometimes exhibits. It was inspiring because of the unconditional love present between the two main characters.

If you watch or have watched this movie, try to put yourself in Lana's place. Would you have been able to do what she did? Truthfully? From the heart. Not just as a pretense to try to spare somebody's feelings. I was asking myself that question, and came up unable to answer it. I believe it's one of those things that you can ever truly know until it actually happens to you. In any case, I was moved beyond words by her courage in more than one scene.

[Bitscape gets up to fetch more pizza. Returns.]

Ok, for those who have no clue what the movie is about, I'll try to describe a little background about it without giving away any spoilers.

The setting, interestingly enough, is the area surrounding that town out in the middle of nowhere, which just also happens to be the place I attended two years of college: Lincoln, Nebraska. Alas, I did not recognize a single one of the locations. The end credits revealed why: "Filmed on location in Dallas, TX." Doh! (At least it wasn't as horribly blatent as The Stand, an otherwise outstanding movie, except that they tried to pass off those... places... as Boulder. Sheesh!)

The main character, "Brandon", is a hermaphrodite. (If I remember the mini-lesson I got the other day correctly, he would be considered a transgendered individual, and NOT a cross-dresser.) He wanders about the local night spots, tries his best to look male, flirts with the girls, and has had some trouble with the law. Exactly what it was, I never caught. I'll have to watch it again.

He winds up with a group of white trash, living in an even smaller town in the middle of nowhere, which is what the rest of the movie evolves out of. I won't go any farther, cause I know I hate knowing any more about a movie's story beforehand than is absolutely necessary, so I won't ruin it for others like me. Besides, all this typing is making me sleepy. :)

Another note: I'm guessing that the job Hilary Swank had in the role of Brandon is probably one of the toughest jobs an actor could be faced with. Talk about awkward. If playing the role would be tough, one can only begin to imagine what it must be like to actually live the part. Whatever the case, she did a steller performance. Academy award worthy, IMO.

Silly me. /me just went to look up what awards the movie actually DID win, and whatdaya know? lol. Shows how much I've been paying attention lately.

Well, anyway, that was one hell of a movie. Wowee.