Too many fans seem to be blown away

Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

People are voting emotionally.

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

I definitely felt "Soldier's Girl". It reminds me in almost every way of the discrimination caused towards African American's at one point in time. Except, it's somehow more baffling that America didn't learn from its past mistakes and tried to bar an entire group of people, until very recently, who were interested in protecting their country like everyone else, from being able to express themselves freely in the army."Don't Ask Don't Tell" is a really unintelligent policy. The fact of the matter is, somewhere along the line, someone may find out that one of their dorm mates may not be heterosexual. Completely on accident. And once this happens, the amount of harassment and abuse they will face could be insurmountable. Especially when you realize there are no rules to stop this and no one to run to, because these homosexuals aren't even supposed to exist. When you think about it, it's sad, and in some cases, disturbing."Soldier's Girl" does a great job of showing the audience what can happen. There are accurate and powerful performances by the two leads and the supporting cast, and the movie is just long enough to get its point across without making you over-analyze it.Overall, this movie comes highly recommended. I think everyone should watch it at least once.

SOLDIER'S GIRL was released in 2003, a landmark, brave film that stirred a lot of controversy as well as a lot of plaudits for the superb work of cinema that it was. The story was written by Ron Nyswander ('Philadelphia', 'The Painted Veil', 'Mrs. Soffel' etc) and the director was Frank Pierson, also aligned with many important films as both writer and director ('Dog Day Afternoon', 'Cool Hand Luke', 'A Star is Born', 'Truman', 'Citizen Cohn', 'Presumed Innocent', etc). Obviously made on a low budget, the corners were cut where they should have been, not on the quality of the cast or the impact of the story. It was and remains a brilliant film. Barry Winchell (Troy Garity) is a sensitive, quiet soldier who is manacled by a homophobic roommate Justin Fisher (Shawn Hatosy). Justin takes Barry to a nightclub where the performers are 'guys in drag' as a challenge to understand Barry's somewhat subdued nature. There Barry observes performer Calpernia Addams (Lee Pace) and despite the negative atmosphere Justin has created, Barry connects with Calpernia. Calpernia is working to get the money to have her final transgender surgery: the reason she works in the club is to make enough to pay the bills and save for her surgery. Barry and Calpernia become a couple despite all the cautions they fully see. Barry's fellow soldier's do not understand how Barry can be attached to a 'freak' and despite Barry's love for Calpernia and Calpernia's protective outlook for Barry, the relationship is tested daily. Barry is ostracized by his soldier 'friends' and in a brutally honest scene, Barry is beaten to death by Fisher. How Calpernia endures and the fate of the perpetrators is decided leads to the ending of the film. In performances as real and powerful as those of Lee Pace and Troy Garity and yes, even Shawn Hatosy, the spectrum of the many permutations of the film are brilliantly delivered. All are excellent, but the extraordinary work by Lee Pace (who has since become a very important actor in many films) deserves as many awards as possible. The story is tough but exceptionally important, especially the manner in which it reveals the psychosocial and physical makeup of transgender people. The film is at once a stunning love story as well as an exposé of man's inhumanity to man and the rigid impact of the military still bound by ancient and crude rules of behavior. This is a film to see repeatedly for many reasons, not the least of which is that it has become a banner film for transgender citizens. It is based on a true story, a fact that makes it all the more painful to see. Grady Harp

Calling "Soldier's Girl" a "gay" or "trannie" movie is not only a misconception, it's simply unfair. In fact, while sexual orientation is a huge part of this film, the film itself has no agenda. Barry Winchell's sexuality is clearly implied, but the film itself is more interested in the romance between two complete opposites.Barry Winchell (Troy Garrity) is a man's man, and a soldier. He moves into the barracks with his roommate, Justin Fisher (Shawn Hatosy). Life doesn't begin well at base for Winchell, but during a night of drunken bonding with some of his squad-mates, he ends up at a trans-gender bar where a transvestite dancer named Calpurnia Addams (Lee Pace) performs. They met backstage, and began dating. But his roommate acts behind the scenes to spread rumors around the base about Barry's extracurricular activities. The seeds of distrust he sows ultimately lead to Barry's brutal murder at the hands of a new recruit named Calvin Glover (Philip Eddolls).How much of "Soldier's Girl" is true, I don't know. The filmmakers cannot really be faulted for that, however, for two reasons. One, nearly every Hollywood movie based on true events changes details (or major plot points) to make a better story. Second, the changes that screenwriter Ryan Nyswaner made for "Soldier's Girl" not only make a good story, but they are highly enlightening as to where homophobia comes from.While the film centers around Barry and Calpernia (and they deserve every minute of screen time that they get), the most original character is Justin Fisher. Through him, we are able to look at how homophobia manifests itself. Fisher is clearly in the closet. He keeps taking his friends back to the transvestite bar. He drinks excessively with his guy friends. And more importantly, he is caught having sex with a transvestite by Barry. Of course Fisher denies it, but Barry knows his secret. This causes him to pull strings behind the scenes to cast doubt onto Barry to deflect it away from himself. Anyone who has seen Shakespeare's "Othello" or any of it's incarnations, will immediately recognize Iago in Fisher.This is the story of a doomed romance. If you've seen any other story about a forbidden love, you'll know exactly how this movie will play out (and not because the murder of Barry Winchell is well known). In some cases, formula can be an asset. That would be the case here (for me at least, this formula never loses its punch, provided the prerequisites are in place), except for one problem. Director Frank Pierson moves the story along so fast that if it weren't for the stunning performances of the actors, the film may have lost all of its effect.When I said the performances are stunning, I meant exactly that. The two leads, Troy Garrity and Lee Pace, are nothing short of incredible. Both have very difficult parts, and the actors are more than up to the task. The best performance belongs to, surprisingly, Troy Garrity. Although he has the less showy part, it is no less complex. Until he meets Calpurnia, Barry is straight, and that's how he is. But when he meets the dancer, the attraction is instantaneous. However, Barry doesn't know what to make of it (this section could have used a little more fleshing out--as it is, his developing comfort with his sexuality is a little abrupt). The ways he tries to understand his newfound sexuality are thoroughly engrossing. Lee Pace is also good, although he strikes a wrong note from time to time (especially when he finds out about Barry's murder). Still, overall, he matches Garritty beat for beat. But more importantly, we like both of the characters, and they have ample chemistry together. Shawn Hatosy is one of the best young actors out there, and in "Soldier's Girl," he proves why. Fisher is arguably the film's most complex character, but Hatosy nails it. I find it shocking that when the Golden Globe nominations were handed out, Hatosy was not nominated (not saying that Pace and Garrity didn't deserve their respective nods, which they did).See "Soldier's Girl." It's one of the few movies that actually touches the heart.

The cause of equality and justice got another martyr in 2003 with the beating death of Barry Winchell, a young private from Kansas who was assaulted, with a baseball bat by another young private while Winchell was sleeping. in his company. The case galvanized a thorough review of the Armed Services 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' policy implemented by the same president who put in the policy in the first place, Bill Clinton. Right now recruiting needs for an unpopular war may have more to do with reversing that policy than young Barry Winchell, a kid who only wanted to serve his country.It was only in the previous two century that human sexuality itself began to be researched and understood from a non-religious point of view. And it was only in the last half of the last century that those who deviated from the binary norm of male/female heterosexism began to demand their just due in society.Barry Winchell is played beautifully here by Troy Gerity and probably in another part of the army could have served his time as quietly and well as his lover Calpurnia Adams, a pre-operative transgender entertainer who in fact was a veteran from the army medical corps. Gays and Lesbians have been doing military service since the Battle of Thermopylae and before that. But in the west had to do it on the Q.T. We were considered bad for morale.In fact I've known gay veterans from every war this country has engaged in since World War II. Barry Winchell unfortunately chose to be part of the 101st Airbourne Division, a battle tested regiment, but with all the macho tradition that goes with it.Some Pentagon brass would have been mortified had they seen people who wear the famous Screaming Eagle patch on their uniforms getting serviced by men in drag at a gay club in Nashville. Or in the army parlance, a place frequented by sexual deviants. When Shawn Hatosy brought Barry Winchell to that club and he met Calpurnia who would be the love of his short life, he was also having some serious sexual issues himself in a society that told him what he felt was the worst thing in the world.Gerity, Hatosy who was the agent provocateur in Winchell's death and Lee Pace who played Calpurnia all deliver fine realistic performances. But the performance that touched me most was that of Phillip Eddolls who played the recruit who did the deed, responding to Hatosy's prodding. This poor individual is a product of some carefully taught fear that to be thought of as gay in society was the worst thing that could happen to you. In society in general, let alone the 101st Airborne Division. Even after he does the deed he can't comprehend what has happened. Eddolls will move you deeply.The Winchell case reminded me very much of the famous racial bias case where a black kid named Yusuf Hawkins was stabbed to death in Bensonhurst in Brooklyn back in the Eighties. Yusuf lived in the area, a very Italian area that to this day is not friendly to other races, not even to other white ethnics for that matter. He was stabbed to death by a young kid named Joey Fama who was part of a gang of about fifteen young men who were yelling and screaming racial epithets. Like Eddolls character, Fama responded to the prodding and actually did the deed, but the others in the mob held their share of guilt.This is a wonderful film about another GLBT martyr, a list that grows longer and sadder each year. It includes people like James Zappalorti, Julio Rivera, Henry Marquez people whose surviving families I got to know after their deaths from my former job with New York State Crime Victims Board. But this review is dedicated to another man who served his country in the Army like Barry Winchell. Paul Pastorella was a clerk typist in the army posted to the Presidio in San Francisco. Paul met the love of his life, a dancer named Kim Sherwood while stationed there and they were a devoted couple. Paul was also a bias attack victim that I first met in Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn when he was stabbed after he left the army. Both Paul and Kim are dead now, but their lives on earth were totally spent in devotion to each other.To Paul, To Kim, To Barry, RIP.