Editing The Crying Game (section)

== Release ==
The film was shown at festivals in Italy, the United States and Canada in September, and originally released in Ireland and the UK in October 1992, where it failed at the box office. Director Neil Jordan, in later interviews, attributed this failure to the film's heavily political undertone, particularly its sympathetic portrayal of an IRA fighter. The [[Sussex Arms pub bombing|bombing of a pub]] in London is specifically mentioned as turning the English press against the film.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104036/?ref_=ttspec_spec_tt |title=The Crying Game |website=[[IMDb]] |date=19 February 1993 |access-date=2 March 2021 |archive-date=17 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217045054/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104036/?ref_=ttspec_spec_tt |url-status=live }}</ref>{{failed verification|date=February 2024}}

The then-fledgling film studio [[Miramax Films]] decided to promote the film in the U.S. where it became a [[sleeper hit]]. A memorable advertising campaign generated intense public curiosity by asking audiences not to reveal the film's "secret" regarding Dil's gender identity.<ref name="auto5"/> Those surveyed by [[CinemaScore]] on opening night gave the film a grade "B" on a scale of A+ to F.<ref name="CinemaScore">{{cite web |url= https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |title= CRYING GAME, THE (1993) B |work= [[CinemaScore]] |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |archive-date= 2018-12-20 }}</ref> Jordan also believed the film's success was a result of the film's [[Ireland–United Kingdom relations|British–Irish politics]] being either lesser-known or completely unknown to American audiences, who flocked to the film for what Jordan called "the sexual politics".

The film earned critical acclaim and was nominated for six [[Academy Awards]], including [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]], [[Academy Award for Best Film Editing|Best Film Editing]], [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]] (Rea), [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]] (Davidson) and [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]]. Writer-director Jordan finally won the [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay]]. The film went on to success around the world, including re-releases in Britain and Ireland.

=== Critical reception ===
''The Crying Game'' received worldwide acclaim from critics. The film has a 95% rating on [[Rotten Tomatoes]] based on 73 reviews, with an average rating of 8.30/10. The consensus states, "''The Crying Game'' is famous for its shocking twist, but this thoughtful, haunting mystery grips the viewer from start to finish."<ref>{{rotten-tomatoes|crying_game|The Crying Game}}</ref> On the review aggregator website [[Metacritic]] the film has a score of 90 out of 100 based on 22 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-crying-game/|title=The Crying Game|website=Metacritic.com|access-date=December 22, 2023|archive-date=23 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223232028/https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-crying-game/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Roger Ebert]] awarded the film a rating of four out of four stars, describing it in his review as one that "involves us deeply in the story, and then it reveals that the story is really about something else altogether" and named it "one of the best films of 1992".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ebert|first=Roger|author-link=Roger Ebert|date=18 December 1992|title=The Crying Game|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-crying-game-1992|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603091126/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-crying-game-1992|archive-date=3 June 2013|access-date=2 March 2021|website=[[RogerEbert.com]]}}</ref>

[[Richard Corliss]], in ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine, stated: "And the secret? Only the meanest critic would give that away, at least initially." He alluded to the film's secret by means of an [[acrostic]], forming the sentence "she is a he" from the first letter- "initial(ly)"- of each paragraph.<ref>Corliss, Richard. [http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101930125-160843,00.html "Queuing For The Crying Game"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615042725/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101930125-160843,00.html |date=15 June 2020 }}, ''Time'', 25 January 1993.</ref>

Much has been written about ''The Crying Game'''s discussion of race, nationality, and sexuality. Theorist and author [[Jack Halberstam]] argued that the viewer's placement in Fergus's point of view regarding Dil being a [[transsexual]] reinforces societal norms rather than challenging them.<ref>Halberstam, Judith (2005), ''In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives'', New York: New York University Press, p. 81. {{ISBN|978-0-8147-3585-5}}.</ref>

[[David Cronenberg]] stated that he was disappointed by ''[[M. Butterfly (film)|M. Butterfly]]'''s reception and felt that it was overshadowed by ''The Crying Game''.{{sfn|Cronenberg|2006|p=132}} He said that the films paralleled each other as both were transsexual, transracial, and transcultural. He was critical of ''The Crying Game'' stating that the film "copped out" and that "the Stephen Rea character should have killed the black soldier" as it "would have made the movie so much more powerful because his guilt would have been so much greater".{{sfn|Rodley|1997|p=181-182}}

''The Crying Game'' was placed on over 50 critics' ten-best lists in 1992, based on a poll of 106 film critics.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-01-24-ca-2356-story.html |title=106 Doesn't Add Up |date=24 January 1993 |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=2 March 2021 |archive-date=1 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801200207/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-01-24-ca-2356-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The February 2020 issue of ''[[New York Magazine]]'' lists ''The Crying Game'' as among "The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars."<ref>{{cite news|title=The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars|url=https://www.vulture.com/article/best-oscar-best-picture-losers.html|magazine=[[New York Magazine]]|access-date=March 17, 2025}}</ref>

===Box office===
The film grossed £2 million ($3 million) in the United Kingdom.<ref name="screen">{{cite news |author=Rufus Olins |title=Mr Fixit of the British Screen |date=24 September 1995 |url=http://find.galegroup.com/stha/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=STHA&userGroupName=slnsw_public&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=FP1801908206&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 |newspaper=[[The Sunday Times]] |access-date=29 March 2014}}</ref> In the United States and Canada it was more successful, grossing $62.5 million, becoming Miramax's highest grossing film in that market at the time and, based on ''[[Screen International]]''{{'s}} definition of a British film, the second-highest grossing British film in the United States at the time.<ref name="screen"/><ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Screen International]]|date=August 11, 2000|page=21|last=Goodridge|first=Mike|title=Top 10 Miramax films of all time}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Screen International]]|date=November 18, 1994|page=25|title=Vampire steals limelight from Frankenstein}}</ref> Based on its US gross, it was the most successful film of the year on a cost to US gross basis.<ref name=returns/> It grossed a total of $71 million worldwide.<ref name=returns/>