I was watching this film the other day and was blown away once again by Swank's performance. I've been trying to find the documentary on Teena Brandon. I've heard from more than one source that the people of that town are angry because they said it's not an accurate portrayal at all of her life, or of the lives of the people in the movie.
I was really taken aback by this film and after having watched it, wanted to know the real story of Brandon Teena to see how accurately/inaccurately she was in fact portrayed...

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So did you have any trouble finding the place?
--All right, I'm late. I ran oughta gas! The gauge is broken. Rough neighborhood too. Good thing I was wearing neutral gang colors. Might've had to rip out my nine and bust a cap! My mind on my money and my money on my mind!
They'd never hurt you, Fletcher. You're their lawyer.
--Ooh. That was below the belt. Try to keep the gloves up.

Sorry can't help you with the doco but I loved this film too. I watched Million Dollar Baby recently and loved it too. Hilary Swank is without doubt one of the most talented actors out there. She'll be around for a long time.

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There's nothing wrong with Garfield. He's just a fat, happy, lazy cat.

Agree with you there Willow Million Dollar Baby was just so upsetting..I've never actually watched this movie..but i'm going to look out for it now.

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there's no place in this world for our kind of fire

She is such a fine actress but never really recieves the recognition she derserves.

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You mean other than the the two 'Best Actress' Oscars?

. . . but, yes, she is a fine actress and richly deserved both.

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“It’s got good actors, and that spells good acting.”

Ditto....lol

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[IMG]

There's nothing wrong with Garfield. He's just a fat, happy, lazy cat.

I watched a documentary on Teena Brandon on A&E a few months ago. I thought the film measured up pretty accurately to the documentary, but you know how Hollywood is, there's the victims and the bad guys and it's not often that they show a person who's just a truly normal person. They victimized her life before she died a little more than necessary I thought, she hung out with a group of not so great kids, drank, did drugs got in fights and whatnot. Which they didn't really show alot in the film, but it wasn't terribly off course. Then again, who knows, the documentary could have been farce too.

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From what I've read and seen, the movie did gloss over some of the complexities of Teena's life (Kimberly Peirce is clearly pushing an agenda with the film), so perhaps it renders things a little more black and white than they really were, but, to me at least, the film seems emotionally true, and arrives at the right conclusions.

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“It’s got good actors, and that spells good acting.”

well i just clicked on the Discover the true story link on this message board and found a pretty in depth article on the reaction of the real people this movie portrays.
I found it interesting that Swank was born in the same town as Teena Brandon and is only 2 years younger than her.

I also found Teena Brandons' mother's comment interesting:
"I'm really sick and tired of people making money off my child," JoAnn said in an Associated Press article. "I don't understand how you can put three weeks of somebody's life up on film and win an award for it."

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So did you have any trouble finding the place?
--All right, I'm late. I ran oughta gas! The gauge is broken. Rough neighborhood too. Good thing I was wearing neutral gang colors. Might've had to rip out my nine and bust a cap! My mind on my money and my money on my mind!
They'd never hurt you, Fletcher. You're their lawyer.
--Ooh. That was below the belt. Try to keep the gloves up.

The hazards of a person being turned into a symbol, I guess. While I feel for Teena's mother, I do believe that she is the executor of Teena's estate, and as such, must have given permission for the various books and films that have been done about Teena.

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“It’s got good actors, and that spells good acting.”