Kimberly Peirce Movies
A photographer, animator, and writer as well as a director, Kimberly Peirce made her mark in the film industry with her passionate version of a true-life tragedy, Boys Don't Cry (1999).Originally from Harrisburg, PA, Peirce also lived in Miami and Puerto Rico before heading off to college at the University of Chicago. Majoring in English and Japanese literature, Peirce subsequently spent two years in Kobe, Japan, doing photography. Merging her interests in storytelling and images, Peirce returned to the U.S. and enrolled in the graduate film program at Columbia University. While in grad school, Peirce became transfixed by the well-publicized rape and murder of Brandon Teena, a young woman living as a man in Falls City, NE. Peirce headed to Nebraska during the trials of the two men eventually convicted of the brutal crime, and befriended a court reporter who helped Peirce gain access to court documents. Fascinated by Brandon's courage and imagination in re-creating his identity in such a conservative environment, and Lana Tisdel, the woman who loved him, Peirce made the story the subject of her thesis film for Columbia.
After she finished her M.F.A., Peirce approached esteemed independent producer Christine Vachon about transforming her work into a feature. Peirce subsequently spent three years readying the film and searching for an actress to play Brandon, finally casting Brandon candidate Chloe Sevigny as Lana and little-known Beverly Hills, 90210 alum Hilary Swank as Brandon in 1998. All of the preparation, including Peirce's suggestion that Swank live as a boy for several weeks prior to production, paid off when Boys Don't Cry premiered to great acclaim in 1999. Earning raves at film festivals for Swank's career performance and Peirce's sensitive yet unstinting examination of how Brandon lived and died, Boys Don't Cry became a critical and art house success. After Swank and Sevigny racked up critics' prizes, the pair were nominated for Oscars, with Swank taking home the Best Actress statuette. Weathering lawsuits from several of the actual people portrayed, including a skittish Tisdel, Peirce then turned to big studio Hollywood for her next directorial job, an adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke's novel Childhood's End. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
After serving his tour of duty in Iraq, a young American soldier who is ordered to return to the front lines as part of the military's controversial stop-loss policy opts instead to go AWOL in a thought-provoking military drama directed by Kimberly Peirce. Sgt. Brandon King (Ryan Philippe) is a decorated Iraq War veteran who once served his country with pride. After his tour of duty comes to an end, King returns to his Texas hometown and attempts to pick up where he once left off with a little help from his family, as well as long-time best friend and war buddy Steve Shriver (Channing Tatum). But just as Brandon, Steve, and the rest of their war buddies begin to settle back into civilian life, Uncle Sam comes calling on them once again. Suddenly ordered back into active duty, the disillusioned war veteran begins to question not just his ties to family and his longtime friendships, but his capacity for love and his sense of honor as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ryan Phillippe, Abbie Cornish, (more)
- 2007
When a grizzled Navy captain reluctantly retires from service due to health reasons, he discovers how truly dysfunctional his family has become in this downbeat family drama from director Alan Parker and screenwriter Mark Richard. Now stuck in the Chesapeake Bay with his daughter - a single, heroin-addicted mother (Charlize Theron) - the sailor finds his unexpected presence threatening to destabilize what is already an extremely volatile situation. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2005
- NR
In a rare and refreshing reversal of roles, filmmakers put the powerful Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA for short) under the microscope for inspection in Academy Award-nominated director Kirby Dick's incisive look at stateside cinema's most notorious non-censoring censors. Compelled by the staggering amount of power that the MPAA ratings board wields, the filmmaker seeks out the true identities of the anonymous elite who control what films make it to the multiplex. He even goes so far as to hire a private investigator to stake out MPAA headquarters and expose Hollywood's best-kept secret. Along the way, Dick speaks with numerous filmmakers whose careers have been affected by the seemingly random and sexual-content obsessed judgments of the MPAA, including John Waters, Mary Harron, Darren Aranofsky, Wayne Kramer, Kevin Smith, Matt Stone, and Atom Egoyan. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kimberly Peirce, Alison Andres, (more)
- 2004
Gini Reticker and Lesli Klainberg direct the 74-minute documentary In the Company of Women, a production of the Independent Film Channel. The film offers an introduction to the major women of independent filmmaking, starting in the 1980s. It includes commentary from directors Allison Anders, Lisa Cholodenko, and Nicole Holofcener. Actresses Patricia Clarkson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Rosie Perez also offer insight and comments. In the Company of Women was shown in a special screening at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival before making its broadcast premiere on the Independent Film Channel. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Allison Anders, Lisa Cholodenko, (more)
Based on a true story, this drama was adapted from the life of Brandon Teena, born Teena Brandon, a woman who chose to live her life as a man and suffered tragic consequences as a result. In 1993, 20-year-old Brandon (Hilary Swank) leaves Lincoln, Nebraska for the nearby community of Falls City, where she sports a crew cut, favors jeans and boots, and is regarded as a man by most of the people in town. While Brandon's friend Lonny (Matt McGrath) warns her that sexual outsiders aren't looked upon kindly in Falls City, she develops a reputation for being something of a ladies' man, and is soon living with a single mother named Candace (Alicia Goranson). But when Brandon meets teenage Lana (Chloe Sevigny), the two become romantically involved almost immediately. Brandon makes friends with Lana's mother (Jeanetta Arnette) and a burly ex-con named John (Peter Sarsgaard). John and his buddy Tom (Brendan Sexton) run with a rough group of men who like to drink and carouse, and they accept Brandon as one of their own. However, when Brandon ends up in jail on a traffic violation, her secret comes out, and, while Lana stands by Brandon's side, John and Tom feel betrayed -- and their anger soon boils over into violence. A distinguished feature debut for director Kimberly Peirce, Boys Don't Cry was enthusiastically received in its showings at 1999 film festivals in Venice, Toronto, and New York. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hilary Swank, Chloë Sevigny, (more)
