Life is more than the sum of its parts.
Bree (Felicity Huffman) is on the verge of qualifying for her sex change surgery when she learns that her only heterosexual encounter of 15 years ago yielded a son, Toby (Kevin Zegers), a 15-year-old hustler who is in prison and is in dire need of a father figure. On advice from her therapist, Bree decides to meet him. Sullen Toby believes Bree to be a Christian missionary and has no clue that she's a he, or that he's her son. On these terms they head from New York to Los Angeles by car, Bree to have her operation and Toby to pursue stardom. What transpires between them is often hilarious, totally moving and surprisingly tender.
Special Agent Matti
If you're going to cross a continent you need several things:
Transamerica has all these things and more: humour, pathos, irony, sex. The humour is sometimes obvious, sometimes surprising and often bitter. The pathos makes you want to fix the world. The irony comes about because of evil oppression by the Christian majority over the open-minded minority (if you don't laugh, you cry). The sex involves Mr Kevin Zegers (whom I highlighted way back in Komodo), who does sexy very, very well. He can tease like no-one's business. You'll slide off the seat before the film is finished.
As for Felicity Huffman, well, a woman playing a man changing into a woman is a Big Ask™ but she manages well. There are times when she looks like a trashy drag queen, times when she looks like an ugly man, times when she looks like a freaky woman. If I hadn't known that Felicity is a chick name I would've been wondering which she was. Her acting is downplayed, that's good because her character is over-dramatic. How many pre-operative, male-to-female, gender-dysphoric transsexual parents with a kid in jail for under-age prostitution do you know? The adjectives are a drama all on their own.
You'll see Transamerica for the social relevance but you'll like it for the humanity. Enjoy.
MA 15+ (Strong themes, strong sexual references, drug use)
104 minutes (1:44 hours)
Film: 2 March 2006
DVD retail: 20 July 2006
