Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

After seeing Lee Pace's performance in The Hobbit: DoS, which I thoroughly enjoyed, I decided to have a better look at other works he has previously been involved with. Soldier's Girl really stuck out to me the moment I read the synopsis.The movie is very powerful, almost soul-crushing yet stunningly beautiful, and the acting is all spot on. I was too young to know of these events as they happened, as well as being from the UK. It focuses on the relationship between Calpernia Addams and Barry Winchell, how their worlds become intertwined, and how their life dreams are realised and begin to knit together, before being tragically snatched away."Opening up to the makers of the film was cathartic, and their telling of the story is an absolutely beautiful tribute to the wonderful man Barry Winchell was. I am very proud of the team I got to know and the finished film." ~ Calpernia Addams I also love the focus on the military's stance on LGBT issues, and the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy (which ended around 2011). The messages within the movie are very thought provoking, and really made me feel sad at how little the human race has actually progressed over such a long period of time. Out-dated policies, a lack of education, closed-minds and stereotypes: all creating many heart-breaking stories and truly unnecessary issues such as this, and it just went on for far too long. It STILL goes on."Since DADT ended in 2011, persons who are openly homosexual and bisexual have been able to serve, but those who are transgender are still excluded as subject to a medical disqualification." ~ Wikipedia source.I really can't fault any of the acting, and both Troy Garity (Barry Winchell) and Shawn Hatosy (Justin Fisher) were both amazing in their roles. The transformation of Lee Pace into the character of Calpernia Addams is both subtle and stunning, and I feel he really did serve the role much justice. He managed to really tap into her character, and into her circumstances, and the results are truly wonderful and it makes the portrayal all the more devastating. I really wish that the film and crew had received more awards, and was much more well known, and it really SHOULD have a UK release! Calpernia Addams speaks about the movie and a little of the back-story briefly on her website, which I think is very important for everyone to read."I can only hope that no other person ever has to work so hard to justify their relationship with someone else, in the wake of a murder, to a public with mostly every wrong idea about them possible." ~ Calpernia Addams

Soldier's Girl is a drama film in America which was released in 2003. The film was directed by Frank Pierson and produced by Showtime. I like the movie because of the plot and the amazing acting skills of the main character, Barry. In the film, Barry is a straight man who fall in love with a transgender female. In the meantime, he is a private of the United States Army. Since the rumors are spread out by Barry's roommate, Fisher, Barry starts to face some verbally abused and physically abused in the military which gives him a huge pressure.I think this film would satisfied the fans of this genre because it shows some problems such as harassment and abused that people who have relationship with transgender usually face in the real society. Moreover, it is not easy to predict the plot and the ending of the film. Since the setting is in a military, it is really difficult to imagine that a straight handsome man would be killed by other private. The camera angle is really outstanding. The director show the blood on the wall instead of showing the whole fighting and killing scenes. Also, the storyline is outstanding. Sometimes, the film is like a comedy but sometimes it is like a tragedy. These days, not only transgender people themselves but also the people who fall in love with transgender people would be discriminated by the public.All in all, this is a tragic film. Barry does not treat transgender people unequally; however, he is treated unfairly and discriminated in the military. I think the society should accept these people since everyone is born in different way.

And actually not terribly far from the quality of either as well... I rented this definitely out of my box of what I typically watch. I saw the material, and decided to go out on a limb, subject matter wise. I certainly was not expecting a movie that would have gotten raves if released at theaters. I honestly would say that the two leads displayed Academy worthy brilliance. Perhaps MORE than some nominees of recent years. The intensity of the acting was just overwhelming. This one is something you just can't forget after the credits roll. The director, Frank Pierson, has made many cable movies for HBO/Showtime and such, and they are every bit was worthy as the best that is offered at theaters. Do yourself a favor and rent anything this man has directed for cable. He is easily the finest in that realm that ever was or will be.

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.