Who can resist Cillian Murphy in drag?
Where I got the movie
Greenwich Library (new job!)
Expectations
Something in the realm of Kinky Boots and Hedwig and the Angry Inch: sexy, heartfelt, and dealing with gender and human nature.
So how was it?
Good, but not exactly what I was expecting. The story follows Patrick "Kitten" Braden, whose sexuality and gender identity are... never directly examined, but you could say transgender. We see him grow up as an abandoned, feminine, and extremely bratty young man in Ireland in the 1970s, fascinated by the mother who abandoned him.
The movie was a lot more subtle than I was expecting -- definitely an Irish production. And it's very, very, very interwoven with the history and politics of 1970s Ireland (yes, that means car bombs.) I wasn't wrong in thinking this would be like Hedwig; if anything, it was more like Hedwig than I was expecting: raw, confused, and personal-political.
Recommendation
Fans of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, 110%. Except the singing.
Feels
Raw, a little mixed up, heartfelt without being melodramatic.
Favorites
The silly spy daydream (hallucination?) was adorable by itself, but really kind of dark in context. I really connected with Kitten's friends; smaller parts, but just as important and interesting.
Least favorites
The CGI birds were unnecessary. Some of the dialog was hard to follow (hey, Irish).
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