The Dress Code (2000)

Dress Code, called Bruno when it debuted on cable, is Shirley MacLaine's first feature as director. Like many of the movies in which she has appeared, it's a drama that uses humor to get its message across. Bruno (Alex D. Linz) is a gradeschooler who lives with his mother and likes to wear dresses. It's one more thing that makes him stand out at Catholic school. Even before his secret gets out, the other kids tease him because he's small and smart--a spelling whiz that reads the dictionary for fun with a mother that is, as he puts it, "flamboyant." His estranged father (Gary Sinise) notes that Angela also weighs 450 pounds, which makes her flamboyance even harder to miss. She means well, however, which can't be said for most of the other people in Bruno's life, with the exception of new girl, Shaniqua, who likes to dress up as well (as a cowgirl). Dress Code raises more questions than it answers (like why Angela doesn't remove her son from a school that shows him so little support), but MacLaine keeps the action moving and the cast rises to the occasion, although it would have been nice if Gwen Verdon's role had lasted more than a few seconds. It should be noted that the film contains some profanity (mostly from Bruno's tormentors), and it isn't until the end that the nuns are depicted in a less-than-negative light (including Kathy Bates as a cigarette-smoking Mother Superior). --Kathleen C. Fennessy Amazon.com

The Dress Code

Great movie. May be hard for some individuals to get into at first, and it doesn't turn out the way most people would expect. My husband was mad at me until Shirley MacLaine came into the story, and he realized he had misjudged what the movie was actually about. Once he reached that point, he was glad he had stayed around to watch it. September 25, 2008

A great movie to watch for people who have weight issues

I really enjoyed this one because it dealt with weight issues and how it effects child rearing and marriages. I really felt for the leading lady and also for the child caught up in it all. July 29, 2008

Positive message, but...

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. I don't even want to list them all. 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. March 17, 2008

Great Movie

I have seen this movie several times and purchased it as gifts for friends several times. This movie has all the pathos of New York City people with their quirks, heartbreaks and growth through understanding. It depicts how one child can change his world when there is a need to change it. The movie is filled with comedy and pathos. It has quite a group of renowned stars such as Gary Sinise, Brett Butler, and of course Shirley MacLaine. It is worth watching again and again as each time you see it, you will learn a little more about human nature! January 30, 2005

alex d linz great as always

alex d linz is my fave kid actor and here he shines in a role where he plays a boy who likes to were dresses.the boy bruno thikns of them a reglous vestments. this mvie explores brunos problems at school and with his father. i thought all the perfomances where grat. the only problem i had was that the dvd could have use dsome extras. September 24, 2002

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