Metascore
90 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 22 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 22
  2. Negative: 0 out of 22
  1. 100
    One of a very few films that wants to do something unexpected and challenging, and succeeds even beyond its ambitions. See this film. Then shut up about it.
  2. Simultaneously a tough, haunting, lyrical, hopeful film, and the tears it wants us to shed are an alloy of sorrow and joy - cleansing tears, the kind that alter the rules and dignify the game.
  3. By the time The Crying Game is over, you'll never look at beauty in quite the same way.
  4. 100
    Rea and Davidson are incomparably good in an exceptional film that is by turns darkly funny and deeply affecting. Though Jordan's control sometimes falters, it's a small price to pay for his daring.
  5. 100
    This offbeat emotional thriller is an unusually satisfying film, intricately constructed, surely directed and splendidly acted. [25 Nov 1992]
  6. Reviewed by: Vincent Canby
    100
    Mr. Jordan's screenplay... is both efficient and ingenious. The physical production is as lush as the film's romantic longings. [26 Sept 1992]
  7. Reviewed by: Richard Corliss
    100
    In a style of agitated naturalism, Jordan examines poignant matters of life and death, sex and friendship, duty and loyalty, freedom and bondage, manhood and womanhood and all the ambiguous areas in between. [30 Nov 1992]
  8. Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    100
    An astonishingly good and daring film that richly develops several intertwined thematic lines, The Crying Game takes giant risks that are stunningly rewarded.
  9. Reviewed by: Hal Hinson
    100
    From the performances by Rea, Davidson and Whitaker, to Jordan's endlessly original script, to Anne Dudley's melancholy score, and Lyle Lovett's closing rendition of "Stand by Your Man," The Crying Game enthralls and amazes us. It deserves to be called great.
  10. Reviewed by: Terrence Rafferty
    100
    Has the sure grip and the unstoppable momentum of a dream – which are qualities, too of great fairly tales and the most memorable pop songs. [16 Nov 1992, p.127]
  11. Persistently upends expectations without insult, as it pulls you into a netherworld filled with yearning, whimsy, and danger. [15 Dec 1992, p.A16(E)]
  12. One of the best movies I've seen this year and, consequently, the less said about it here the better. The beauty of this movie is in the way it twists and turns, thwarting expectations, confounding stereotypes and venturing into places you least anticipate.
  13. Reviewed by: Clifford Terry
    88
    A crackling good movie. [18 Dec 1992]
  14. Reviewed by: Mike Clark
    88
    This grade-A sleeper sends you out with an unexpected smile. [25 Nov 1992]
  15. 88
    As is often the case with European films, the acting is superlative...The real standout, however, is newcomer Jaye Davidson, whose performance is, without exaggeration, stunning...Not to be missed.
  16. Reviewed by: Staff (Not Credited)
    80
    Thematic issues aside, The Crying Game pulls off a tremendously difficult technical feat; its screenplay contains not one, but two, wrenching twists, each of which could easily derail the narrative in the hands of a lesser storyteller.
  17. Reviewed by: Alan Morrison
    80
    A finely-acted, sensitively-written tale.
  18. An adroit piece of storytelling from Irish writer-director Neil Jordan that's ultimately less challenging to conventional notions about race and sexuality than it may at first seem... The three leads are first-rate.
  19. It's a movie filled with surprises, including one outright kick in the head that qualifies as one of the biggest movie moments of 1992. [18 Dec 1992]
  20. Parts of the film are flatly directed...It certainly keeps the audience guessing, though, and few movies explode so many stereotypes. [31 Dec 1992]
  21. Jordan would like us to believe that the three films are stages in a metamorphosis, but the stitching shows… Part Two, explored and expanded, might have made a good film, especially since Davidson gives a quiet, knowledgeable, perfectly poised performance. [14 Dec 1992]
User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 27 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 12
  2. Negative: 1 out of 12
  1. Dick surprise
  2. enerof
    10
    Probably because the performance of Jaye Davidson which gives kick on the head and gaps!!! Without him, it will run flatly and forgettable. Salute for Stephen Rea, Jaye and Nell. You're awesome! Full Review »