Gender-bending flicks have traditionally been films filled with spectacle. From Dustin Hoffman’s comical prancing in “Tootsie” to the surprise exposition scene in “The Crying Game,” serious consideration of this subject has been harder to find than a good sitcom on CBS.

But the independent film industry has once again given us a serious, artful look into a story that would be true and real, even if it were entirely fictional.

“Boys Don’t Cry” takes the subject of gender apart from head to toe and puts it back together again in an independent film package that makes it intriguing, without turning the matter into some kind of circus of the bizarre a la David Lynch.

In fact, the realism is what makes the weirdness really fly.

“Boys Don’t Cry” tells the true story of Brandon Teena (Hilary Swank, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Beverly Hills 90210”), a 21-year-old with a sexual identity crisis. Brandon lives his life as a boy in spite of the fact that he was born female.

Brandon has taken more and more to dressing exclusively as a boy and going out to meet unsuspecting girls. This, along with a few criminal acts, has landed Brandon in trouble with the locals.

After a fallout with his friend Lonny in Lincoln, Neb., Brandon falls in with a group of hellions from Falls City, Neb. He decides to hook up with them for a few days after he meets and becomes intrigued by Lana, played by Chloe Sevigny.

No one knows Brandon is really a woman and most audience members will find themselves completely fooled as well, even though we know from the beginning of the film that Brandon is female.

Eventually, Brandon and Lana become fascinated by each other, much to the chagrin of John (Peter Sarsgaard), an ex-con who has been obsessed with Lana since she was a young girl.

Lana and Brandon begin to make plans to move to Memphis where Lana wants to sing Karaoke for money. It is a stupid plan, but one that highlights their desire to get out of Falls City clinging to any hope they can muster to see something of the world while they have a chance.

After a moving violation, the police discover that Brandon is really Teena and is wanted on several charges in Lincoln.

Soon Lana’s friends and family find out that Brandon is not what he seems and they freak out in a xenophobic frenzy.

Without giving away too much about the plot, which is public record and made clear in the previews that talked about the number of hate crimes committed in the United States, things don’t go well for Brandon.

The film doesn’t preach about hate; it isn’t that kind of movie. It delves into the depths of a character and shows all sides of the personality in question. Brandon isn’t a cute, lovable, two-dimensional victim.

He is a complex individual who keeps screwing up because he is compelled to run away in the face of not knowing who he is.

He tries to live his life in a world that cannot accept who and what he is and, frankly, neither can Brandon.

Hilary Swank’s performance is outstanding. She certainly deserves any and all kudos the Academy chooses to bestow upon her this year. Not only does she make a convincing boy, but her pain, confusion, fear and joy are all equally real.

One is hard-pressed to think of a woman in any other film who has pretended to be a man with this level of success. The product is usually just a campy, weak imitation of masculinity by a woman who is not at all in touch with that side of her personality. But if you met Hilary Swank as Brandon on the street, you would be fooled.

Chloe Sevigny also comes across like the little white trash princess she was meant to be. Anyone in the audience from rural America will swear they know this girl from somewhere. Her bad dye job and tentative good looks help her nail the part but it is her attitude that hammers home her character. She just knows she is better than the trash around her, but not by much. She is dissatisfied with her life, but unable to do anything about it.

The film also captures the stark reality of rural America in all its beauty and horror without descending into pastoral, visual shots of prairie or overly crude hayseed stereotypes.

There are no long panoramic vistas used to capture the imagination, but there are some simple, organic shots of Brandon standing in the middle of nowhere, wondering where he has awakened.

The actors are a natural extension of their environment, too. They could easily have been plucked off the Nebraska prairie. Each one is a bit of homespun in this twisted American quilt.

The film’s antagonists are the kind of scary rednecks found in the backwaters of American society lurking in the open waiting for someone to victimize. What makes their performance powerful is that we know Brandon’s secret and we know that if these rednecks find out it could mean his death.

This isn’t a sweet and sexy lesbian flick. The sex is hot but disturbing on a variety of levels. This is the kind of film you see once, pay close attention to and walk away from deep in thought.

4 Stars

Rating based on a 5 Star scale.

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Greg Jerrett is a graduate student in English from Council Bluffs.