Transamerica

 
Transamerica focuses on a pre-operative, male-to-female transsexual who was born and raised as Stanley, but is now in her female adulthood as Bree. Bree holds down two jobs and saves every penny so she can pay for one last operation to make her a woman at last. As she's about to take the final step in her transformation, to go under the knife for a vaginoplasty, Bree discovers she's the parent of a 17 year old runaway named Toby who's hustling on the streets of New York. Bree flies from Los Angeles to New York in order to free him after her therapist convinces her to face up to her past. When Toby is released to her, he thinks she is a Christian missionary determined to convert reprobates to Jesus, he has no idea she is her true father, and Bree sees no reason to inform him of the truth.
What follows is a trans-American highway trek from the East Coast to the West Coast, during which Bree and Toby grow closer to each other, contrary to what each other initially wants. And the result is simply wonderful.

Duncan Tucker on this, his premier outing, directs his own screenplay with pain, humour and care. Bree (Felicity Huffman) tries hard to reform the son, while, at the same time, being an outsider herself and Toby (Kevin Zegers) proves to be more than a handful for Bree at this, the most difficult, crossroad in his/her life. We also happened to meet some fantastic people along the way on the road trip including an easy-going native rancher (Graham Greene) and some hippies who are anything but easy-going. Bree and Toby come to understand each other through long conversations, as one would expect on a road trip. There are a few surprises thrown into the mix as well, particularly toward the end. The script also includes an analysis as to why “The Lord Of The Rings” is actually a gay story (which would come as something of a surprise to Tolkien I’m sure). Actually, I was secretly hoping for some film allusion to the revelation in the film “The Empire Strikes Back”, but alas, that never materialized.

Huffman delivers a richly detailed and sensitive performance that is able to convey the pain and frustration of her condition with admirable restraint. It is Bree's genuinely heartfelt attempt, not to change minds or preach a cause, but to simply be accepted, that provides the emotional underpinning that manages to carry the entire movie.

This is a great film that once again shows that if you want to meet interesting and thought provoking characters in the cinema, you have to do so in the realm of low budget independents.
 
 
Paul Elliott