The Boy Who Cried Bitch (1991) Reviews

• Great Movie, great performances

  MovieMaddis2004-04-15

  After seeing the Boy Who Cried Bitch, you might be left wondering what happened in 1991 that they couldn't release this film. This movie is one of the few effortlessly fused Theater Release with TV Movie of the Week that perhaps it lost it's footing in both venues. A shame that more people didn't get the chance to see what is surely a great performance by a young Harley Cross. This is before "Shriek If you know what I did Last Friday the 13th" but shortly after Believers. Harley was a young actor to watch with notable films "Cohen and Tate" peeking with "Perdita Durango" and an otherwise downward slide to obscurity since. He certainly shines in this role as a confused and psychotic adolescent on the brink of madness struggling to find a place in the outside that compliments his inner demons. Rarely have we seen a young actor display such range and for this reason alone, this movie should have shucked the title and some of the cursing for something a bit more palatable to the mainstream public. BWCB was unique in that it explored some of the complexities of child abuse, manic depression and a mother's ultimate failure to connect with her child in a way that is not cliché. For example a good scene early on has Dan (Cross) being seduced by a groundskeeper who obviously tries to fill a father's role and lure the boy into a man-boy relationship. Dan turns the power position around and immediately uses the man for beer and food for his brothers and friends. This film takes an honest look at young teens, not shying away from the way they talk and the amount of insight they have with their adult relationships. I recommend this film for those looking for a good hearted, insightful, sometimes dark and emotional journey through a troubled teen's life. 6/10 Maddis

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• Very depressing...and fascinating

  preppy-32004-04-12

  Disturbing movie of a child (Harley Cross) who slowly begins to go crazy...and drags his family down with him. This got no release back in 1991 (probably because of the title and subject matter). It had only one showing at the Boston Film Festival. We actually had the director introduce the film and take questions afterwords. Most of the audience was stunned and speechless and VERY depressed at the end. The director acknowledged the film was disturbing--but that's why he made it. Also the original ending of the film was even WORSE than what was filmed. **SPOILER AHEAD** In the release version the mother has to kill her own child. In the original script, the kid killed his whole family before killing himself! The director thought that was going TOO far and changed it. **END SPOLIER** The whole cast was superb--especially Cross. Naturally this film was (as far as I know) never released on video so we'll probably never see a DVD version either. That's really too bad. I saw this film over 10 years ago and I've never forgotten it. I really wish I could see it again.

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• This never appeared on video

  gunnarvl2001-08-11

  The Boy Who Cried Bitch was an extremely limited release film from 1991. It was playing in one theater in Manhattan and I saw it four times. It features a terrific performance by Harley Cross as the disturbed child. The film is very depressing. It never was released on any format and I rarely find other people who know anything about it. I'd love to find a copy. I highly recommend this film.

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• Extremely Powerful Film About A Family In Turmoil...

  EVOL6662006-11-04

  Honestly, I'd never even heard of THE BOY WHO CRIED BITCH until a few days ago. I grabbed it from a friend with no prior knowledge or expectations - and I have to say that I was EXTREMELY impressed with this rare find. I'm surprised that the film hasn't gotten a wider release considering how powerful of a film that it is - but I also can see that it may not garner wide-spread acclaim as many "mainstream" viewers would probably find the subject-matter and extremely realistic portrayals a bit too much to handle... Dan is a kid who suffers from some SERIOUS mental issues. It's never addressed as to what exactly his problem is - but it seems to be a mix of psychosis, some sort of "rage" disorder, and perhaps a touch of Tourette's syndrome. Dan is completely out of control and can't seem to control his violent outbursts, which puts a strain on his mother and two brothers. His mother eventually commits him to a private mental hospital where no progress is made in helping either identify or treat Dan's condition - in fact, he seems to only get worse in the institutional environment. After becoming violent to the staff of the institution, they decide that they can not keep him there any longer, and if other arrangements aren't made - he will be turned over for lock-up into a state-run facility. Unable to find proper care or treatment for her son, the mother brings him home, which with no boundaries or professional help to keep him in-check, turns out to be a bad move... THE BOY WHO CRIED BITCH is one of the more powerful films I've seen in a while. Strong performances by all the leads (especially Harley Cross as Dan), and some notable supporting roles by a young Adrien Brody and also Moira Kelly elevate this film to near-perfect status. The downbeat and uncompromising nature of the film is a refreshing change from all the Hollywood happy-ending bullsh!t that assaults the cinema these days - another reason whey this film will probably never receive the recognition it deserves. A damn good film for those that enjoy more "challenging" material - don't pass this one up if you have the chance to see it...9/10

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• There's A Parrot In My Croissant!

  danieljfenner2015-05-03

  Watching The Boy Who Cried Bitch left me with the same reaction after seeing Hal Hartley's "Trust" more than fifteen years ago. "Where are the awards?" 1991 was quite a year for these grim, character-driven indie films. As "Silence of the Lambs" dominated the year critically, films like Trust and The Boy Who Cried Bitch were hanging from the helicopter rafters of Hollywood. With its modest production value and emphasis on the performances of the actors, this family drama offers more of a meditation of childhood mental health within the context of family dysfunction. It's terse and brilliant script penned by Catherine May Levin, was supposedly based on true events but I cannot find a lot of other information about the author. Is she the mother of a child with a mental illness? Was she the child, but she made the character into a boy for the film? I don't know how this story connects to her life and I am interested in knowing more about the author because it really is a well-written piece of celluloid While the leading role of the stuttering, violent, maladjusted Dan Love - played bey Harley Cross receives most of the well-deserved accolades, the real show stealer here is the role of Candice Love, the mother played by Karen Young. This is truly one of the most riveting performances I've seen in years. Imagine the commanding, emotional range of Sally Field without the ham. Her eye movements, the delivery of the lines, her intermittent shifts between mania hopelessness. The acting is stellar all around. I would also like to give an honorable mention to Dennis Boutsikaris. He has really locked himself into quite an archetype as the soft-spoken yet arrogant Dr. Orin Fell the head psychologist of the mental hospital that Dan is confined in. He exudes a soft-evil, a passive-aggressive, manipulative agent of authority not too far from his characters portrayed in "The Dream Team" and in "Better Call Saul." The main drawback of this film is the production quality which is fortunately saved by the performances and the script. A better sound design could have been implemented. There are scenes where the boom mic is in the shot and there is a great presence of hisses when the actors say their "s" and "p" sounds. Aside from that, I would highly recommend this film. If you are a fan of the "troubled-teen-trying-to-adjust" trope in cinema, like Good Will Hunting, White Oleander, etc., then The Boy Who Cried Bitch offers a much more harrowing, less Hollywood-feel-good, approach to this difficult subject.

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