Editing The Crying Game (section)

=== 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>