Transamerica

TRANSAMERICA is a film where you meet people who might really exist. And real people are not only great or terrible, they are mostly both. It is the acting and the dialog which makes all the difference. The film offers a blueprinted storyline of two people who don't know each other traveling together across the US, from NY to LA. Memories of MIDNIGHT RUN and RAIN MAN do come up once in a while. But still this is everything but a Hollywood product. The main character is a Transsexual named Bree, born as a man but living the past few years as a woman, only days before her operation which will definitely make her a woman. That subject and, the fact, that the role is played by an actress signifies a very different approach to the old gender questions. The film offers funny moments too, but never makes fun about a man, wanting to be a woman. The film is very subtle, and it is really a pity when it is finally over. It displays very well that great stories don't require great budgets to make great films! 9 out of 10!

TRANSAMERICA Written & Directed by Duncan Tucker

A perky spokesperson is on the television. "This is the voice I want to use," she repeats, staring directly into the camera. Bree Osbourne (Felicity Huffman) watches this instructional tape, using it as yet one more step to ultimately eliminate every trace of Stanley Schupack, the man she once was and biologically still is, or at least she still will be for the next week. Bree is a pre-operation, male-to-female transsexual with a definite distaste for all things supposedly male. This means anything vulgar or classless and even her penis. She would much rather embrace all that is delicate, artistic, and insightful. These conscious decisions show gender as a performance, a calculated choice to put forth the parts of you that you identify as more innately masculine or feminine in accordance with who you want to be. In Bree's case, the decisions she makes are often awkward and misplaced, from the jerkiness of her walk to her often difficult-to-process-how -she-rationalized-that-was-a-good-look- for-her ensembles. Despite that, the decisions she makes are her own and having made them and consequently sticking with them is more important than the decisions themselves. After all, she is about to make a much bigger decision that she will have to live with for the rest of her life

Just as Bree can almost feel the jarring cold of the surgical knife on her skin, she learns that her one sexual fumble with a woman back in college, when she was still Stanley, led to the birth of a child. (oh, those silly college experimentations.) That child, Toby (Kevin Zegers), has gotten himself arrested and sent to a juvenile detention unit up in New York City. In response, Bree's therapist will not sign off on her authorization to go ahead with the surgery if Bree refuses to confront this boy and her past. Upon meeting Toby, Bree learns that he hustles to earn a living and enjoys his hallucinogenics while he is still holding on to his dream of making it in the movies. He aims high but he's still a realist, acknowledging that his big future in the film industry will likely be in gay porn. From the looks of him in his undies, I dare say he's a pretty perceptive kid, not to mention a good shot at success. In the driver's seat we have a timid and awkward father who will soon be a mother but has not divulged this much to her son. In the passenger seat, we have an ambitious and bright young man who has lost his way without realizing. And thus begins the great transamerican road trip from New York City to Los Angeles. Bree's seemingly unsolicited act of kindness inspires Toby to be a better man and return that kindness to this stranger. This cycle continues along the way as we watch two people who are so acutely aware of the roles they portray to the world, shed their thick skins and take on new roles without even realizing they're doing it. One is trying to be heard right now and the other has tried for so long not to be seen. Yet on this cross country trek, they both leave these acts they're so used to aside and embrace their new selves as a mother who helps her child see his worth and a child who makes his mother feel more like a woman than any instructional videotape or hormone she's ever seen or taken.

Felicity Huffman knows how to play a reluctant mother. As the exhausted mother of four, Lynette Scavo on television's DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, Huffman exhibits her strengths as an actress by playing Lynette as a woman who relies on her instincts. She is protective and fierce while still sensitive and nurturing. While her television character's hesitation comes from a lack of confidence in her abilities to embody one of life's most natural roles, her TRANSAMERICA film persona holds back for mostly selfish reasons. She has not felt like herself her entire life (The look of disgust on her face when a doctor asks how she feels about her penis hits hard for how quick and harsh a reaction it is). Having a problem son to deal with and eventually confront regarding his misconceived notions about his birth father is a direct obstacle that she had not counted on. This is her initial fear but Bree is actually terrified that she has no nurturing capabilities just like her television counterpart. It is only by spending time with her son that she comes to learn that she has much wisdom to impart upon him, that she was not ruined entirely by her parents or that she could stand to learn a thing or two from him as well.

The issue of control, having it in one's life or over one's self is a struggle for most but can be even more of an arduous challenge for marginalized people, like a transsexual person. He or she not only needs to ingest numerous hormones in order be more like the person they feel they are inside which is in complete contradiction to the body they've been given but they then have to deal with the ignorance and judgment that is given to them each time they put on their armor and walk outside their door. TRANSAMERICA is a film about learning how to incorporate the person you've always known yourself to be, the person you so desperately want to become and about healing the relationships with the people you meet and touch along the winding road that gets you there.

I usually avoid Transsexual movies as they make me uncomfortable ! That's why I avoided the movie "Transamerica" when it came out . But being a movie fan I kept reading reviews that were saying how great the movie was and how great the actors were . So I finally rented the movie in 2011 and viewed it for the first time . I had seen 'The Angry Inch' and it did nothing for me . Then I saw "A Soldiers Girl" and that movie stuck with me but it was violent . Then I viewed Transamerica and was at last entertained . Felicity Huffman , was an Oscar's performance to say the least and she did win that award . She was amazing and I do not think a male playing the role could have carried it off as well . All the actors were 100 percent human and able to reach the audience ! Kevin Segers is a bright spot in the movie as Toby , Bree's son that she did not know she had. Kevin's performance was nothing short of Oscar material , which he should have won something . There are a lot of great up and coming actors from Canada . And if it were not for the Canadians we would not have movies like this , and "The Barbarian Invasion''s . Hollywood just cannot come out of the closet long enough to make a movie in this genre , let alone in off the wall subjects. I gave this welcome flick 8 stars out of 10 . ciao yaaah69

Last week a family getting ready to move gave my wife and I a bag of books and a few films. One of the films was Transamerica. I glanced at the front and back and through "Hmmm, I didn't I know Mrs. H. was into weird movies". A few nights later my wife and I decided to give the film a try. The film was great, we're so tired of the same old Hollywood stuff, action, special effects, top dollar actors who could care less about the characters. The film captured us in the very beginning, we both empathized with Bree, understood her struggle, pain, and basic desire to be herself. The road trip was a great part of the film. I enjoyed the Calvin Manygoats and the meeting with her parents (the mom was great). I grew uncomfortable with Toby's desire to have sex with his biological father, as well as the tryst with the trucker, but this was an intergral part of the story and the film was very realistic. I learned a lot about the struggle and pain that these people have in life, it made me more accepting of their lives. I would recommend this film to anyone who enjoys a good story, exceptional acting, and good dialog. It's a very good film.

The journey Ms. Huffman takes in TRANSAMERICA is one in which many will identify with in needing to become the person you really should be. Ms. Huffman's performance as a "man into a woman" played by a woman is a miracle and a triumphant film performance that an audience should see to fully understand the brilliance of what an actor can transform on film, as well as for the warm, intelligent character, Bree, becomes on the screen.

Please, give Felicity Huffman the Oscar NOW!!! And, The young, brilliant actor, Kevin Zegers, as Toby, commands the role as Bree's son in TRANSAMERICA with just as painful a journey as Bree in wanting to have a better life for himself. Toby and Bree are two soul mates waiting to discover one another, ironically as father and son,as this film brings to a wonderful conclusion.

TRANSAMERICA is a film that should be seen to be understood; a film that presents two characters, father and son, who take a journey together that will change their lives forever. When the Award season commences, Felicity Huffman and Kevin Zegers should be on the stage to receive awards for characters that warm your heart and take you back in time with questions on your own life's directions.