Customer Reviews

The Dress Code [VHS]

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great movie!

I found the portrayal of the nuns to be disturbing, yet accurate, but puts the nuns in a good light in the end, with even the most harsh nun cheering for the boy in a dress at the end.

Shirley MacLaine provides great subconsious contrast to the little boy who likes to wear dresses, because she is very "butch" in this movie. Shirley dresses in pants, teaches boxing, and is not afraid to fight anyone, verbally or physically. Shirley's butch look is the counterpoint of the story, as no one seems to care that Shirley takes on the male appearance and mannerisms.

Thus, in my opinion, the major question this film raises, is why cant boys wear dresses, when girls can wear pants? Why are feminine attributes considered lower status, but male attributes higher status? I think the answer is that most people still think of females as being inferior, and any male that does anything feminine, wears anything femininm, is degrading himself, so it is unfavorable. Females that imitate the masculine and wear pants, are upgrading themselves, so that is acceptable. Men and women will never be truely equal, until this kind of subconsious prejudicial thinking ends.

The film clearly states that the boy is not homosexual, nor does he want to be a girl. The film is harmless viewing fair.

For every woman who has ever put a dress on a boy(who hasn't?), or a man, this is a movie to see. Any male who does not feel degraded in a skirt, is a male that truely sees females as equals. I have had personal experience with boys and men that like to wear dresses, and find them facinating.

Happily, the story ends well, with everyone accepting a boy in a dress, the nuns redeeming themselves, and the fat woman throwing away her chocolate cake. A nice enjoyable movie in spite of its serious subject matter. A victory for womankind where feminitity is no longer considered degrading.

I saw this movie on a flight a while back and was very impressed with the actors, the plot and the message this movie portrayed. Alex Linz is a standout as he befriends a young girl who has chosen to dress in her own individualistic style. The bullies at the private school they attend make it a challenge for him but their friendship prevails with the bullies learning their lessons. It is funny, heartwarming and sincere. It sends a a great message to be sending to our kids (as well as adults).

I agree with the other two reviews that this movie does send a great message to both children and adults. Alex plays an amazing little boy who is picked on at school and has a very different kind of home life. This movie shows you that everyone is unique in his or her own way, but this does not necessarily make them strange or different. Another topic touched upon in this movie is the importance of family. Family and friends are the two most important things in life and this movie makes that abundantly clear. I loved it and think that everyone should watch this heart-warming movie.

I saw this film on HBO, or Showtime...one of those channels and thought it was just the sweetest film.

Alex Linz is just too adorable and is a wonderful actor. He plays a young boy who wears dresses, but to him they are "holy vestments". His mother, a flamboyant 450 pound woman nursing a broken heart, is loving and understanding. His grandmother, played by a VERY manly Shirley Maclaine,who also directed this film, thinks both son and mother are crazy. She soon falls under the boys charms and encourages him the way she never did with her own son, the boys wayward father, played by Sinese, in a very small but important role.

I love the performances in this movie. It seems that the actors are having a wonderful time and it comes across in their acting. The characters are very real and genuine. It is a bit "Afterschool Special"ish, but the strong cast and performances carry it home.

I think this movie sends a great message to everybody. Alex Linz is amazing as he plays a young boy who likes to wear dresses. He is bullied at school because he wears dresses and because his mother is overweight. But he finds a friend and makes it through the hard times and proves he can be what he wants.

Bruno (Alex D. Linz of "Home Alone 3") is a boy in a Catholic school. Other boys, however, always picks on him, and his superior nun (Kathy Bates) is not particularly kind to Bruno and his mother, considering them just another troublemakers. And his estranged father (Gary Sinise), a local policeman now dating with another girl (Joey Lauren Adams, "Chasing Amy") avoids his ex-wife and son, also thinking them as a disgrace when one day Bruno is hit by a car, sent to hospital, and found ... wearing girl's dress. The last point represents the message of this film directed by Shirley MacLaine, who also appears as Bruno's grandmother. (This is her debut as a director of feature-length film though she once co-directed a documentary film "The Other Half of the Sky" in the past.) A boy Bruno loves wearing girl's clothes, and he finally shows the people around him that to be different is OK.

Alex D. Linz portrays Bruno's gradual recognition of his true self-esteem with charm, and Shirley MacLaine, as always, shows her gifted comic sense as his plucky grandmother who comes to understand him. Though I found Gary Sinise overacting, trying to give stress on father's anguish, the acting is uniformly good, including newcomer Stacey Halperin playing Bruno's "Diva" mother. There is also a cameo appearance of Jennifer Tilly, but it was a too short one for me as Joey Lauren Adams's.

The film proves that Shirley MacLaine has a talent as a director, always keeping the ball rolling, but at some places the film suffers from its inefficient script that clearly needs re-writing. Some viewers might feel dismayed at the negative descriptions of the teaching nuns, one of them played by Kathy Bates, who, after Bruno was picked on in school, unaccountably preaches and scolds Bruno, not his bullies. And that happens more than once, which makes me wondering why his mother doesn't think of sending him away from such a horrible place. But the film's has a more fundamental problem with the way of presenting Bruno's wish of wearing girl's clothes, which is not developed enough to convey the fiim's precious message. At one place, Bruno narrates that he watched a dream of being chased by angels, and clad in white, he insists in front of the angry superior nun that what he is wearing is holy vestment. But later he is dressed in a cowgirl costume, which confuses the point he made before. Does he just want to be dressed like a girl? Or an angel, which he sees several times in his visions?

This could be a minor thing if I didn't see an European film dealing with the same topic, Alain Berliner's "Ma Vie en Rose," which, with all respect to Ms MacLaine's work, should be considered better made. As a whole "The Dress Code" is a promising work from a respected actoress, whose name, however, deserves a little better treatment of the theme.

"The Dress Code" was given a theatrical (though limited) release in Japan in 2001 with its original title "Bruno," prior to American release.

I would like to make it clear that I approve of this film's message. Children should be encouraged, or at least allowed, to express themselves in unconventional ways. I agree with Robert Bly's observation that those parts of ourselves that we suppress by "putting them in a bag" will become more primitive and dangerous. If we don't allow the boy to wear a dress when he's eight, he might grow up to become the "Buffalo Bill" character in "Silence of the Lambs."

Unfortunately, the other characters, almost without exception, embody the crassest stereotypes. Especially galling is the character of the boy's mother, who on at least three occasions, is shown ordering or eating enormous amounts of food, and at one point, actually has a heart attack. It would have been far more interesting had Joey Lauren Adams played the boy's mother, with Gary Sinise abandoning her for the other actress. But that would have required real unconventional thinking.

This film was a very pleasant surprise. Not having seen it, I purchased it on the strength of its cast. The film's success rests on the small shoulders of its lead character. Alex D. Linz proves, as he did in HOME ALONE 3, to be an absolutely charming presence. The scene in which he explains his lack of fear of dying to his grandmother is a gem. The film itself is a little unsteady at the beginning and, at 108 minutes, is a bit overlong, but, once it gets going, the story is filled with wonderful, quirky characters. It bears a passing resemblence to the Belgian film MA VIE EN ROSE ("My Life in Pink"), which is also recommended viewing.

I really enjoyed this movie. It is a delightful story and very funny. Just what I needed on a cold winters night. My only disappointment was that Shirley Maclaine was not in it more, which was why I bought the movie to begin with.

I only recently saw this movie, it came on The Movie Channel, and I was so moved by the performance of little Alex D.Linz I immediately got online to purchase the film from Amazon. Its a shame that movies like this dont get the commercial support that other movies get, the world could be such a better place and more accepting of alternative ideas about Lifestlye and clothing style. This movie did a fabulous job of depicting a little well known fact that most of our prejudices are simple remnants of emotional pains we experienced as children. Gary Sinise's feelings about his son were just old wounds that his mother had branded on him when he was child. I wont say too much, I have already been grilled once for spoiling the story, so I will just say: Great Movie, very moving, very uplifting and there is a lesson to be learned. HINT: Listen to the words the little boy is using at the beginning and end of the movie. The other performaces were ok... this is where it got silly. I dont know how serious Shirley Mclaine wanted the movie to be, but I did pick up alot of comedy, I hope I wasnt laughing when i was supposed to be sympathetic.