... But secrets have a nasty way of sneaking out when you least expect them…
Director-writer Duncan Tucker creates a finely crafted, beautifully acted and very heartfelt movie with "Transamerica". He clearly feels deeply not only for Bree but also for estranged son Toby. His treatment of the ... Read review
Felicity Huffman deserves every award she's received for her outstanding performance ... more
inTransamerica, a small but rich movie about Bree--formerly Stanley--a pre-operative male-to-female transexual awaiting gender-reassignment surgery who learns she has ...
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Felicity Huffman deserves every award she's received for her outstanding performance ... more
inTransamerica, a small but rich movie about Bree--formerly Stanley--a pre-operative male-to-female transexual awaiting gender-reassignment surgery who learns she has ...
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Bree (Felicity Huffman), is a pre-operative, male to female transsexual who discovers she ... more
has a son, Toby, (Kevin Zegers), the product of a somewhat clumsy sexual encounter years ago when she was a man.Bree flies from Los Angeles to New York in order t...
Life is more than the sum of its parts. A pre-operative male-to-female transsexual takes ... more
an unexpected journey when she learns that she fathered a son now a teenage runaway hustling on the streets of New York... A delightful road movie garnering 2 O...
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Production Year: 2004 - Comedy - Director: John Hay - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jimi Mistry, Kate Miles, Dougray Scott
Advantages: Great performances in a heartfelt movie Disadvantages: Occasionally too issue-heavy
Stanley is about to have an operation that will change him into Bree, the woman he always knew he was when he receives the fright of his life. He gets a phone call telling him the son he never knew he had is in prison in New York and needs bailing out. So he goes to the Big Apple, picks the boy up and drives cross-country to LA. But Bree can't bear to tell Toby who she really is, pretending to be a church missionary. But secrets have a nasty way ... .../>
Director-writer Duncan Tucker creates a finely crafted, beautifully acted and very heartfelt movie with "Transamerica". He clearly feels deeply not only for Bree but also for estranged son Toby. His treatment of the pair tends towards the soft-hearted, suggesting that there is a clear link between where they come from and who they are. But this is tempered by their mutual discomfort that rears its head every time they seem to be making ... more
Stanley is about to have an operation that will change him into Bree, the woman he always knew he was when he receives the fright of his life. He gets a phone call telling him the son he never knew he had is in prison in New York and needs bailing out. So he goes to the Big Apple, picks the boy up and drives cross-country to LA. But Bree can't bear to tell Toby who she really is, pretending to be a church missionary. But secrets have a nasty way of sneaking out when you least expect them…
Director-writer Duncan Tucker creates a finely crafted, beautifully acted and very heartfelt movie with "Transamerica". He clearly feels deeply not only for Bree but also for estranged son Toby. His treatment of the pair tends towards the soft-hearted, suggesting that there is a clear link between where they come from and who they are. But this is tempered by their mutual discomfort that rears its head every time they seem to be making progress. However, budgetary constraints have a clear impact on the way he films the action. The film stock and excess of exterior shots (and particularly travelling shots of Bree's car that suggest the length of the journey) smacks of cost-cutting exercises. Why pay for expensive lighting rigs and studio time when you can shoot outside in the sunshine? But this is such a character-centric film that it doesn't have a detrimental effect on the story, although it occasionally looks like a television movie. Indeed the pacing can be somewhat episodic, with unlikely incidents peppering the road trip.
Tucker is very lucky in having such a high-quality, committed cast that drive the story. He gives them pretty much free-rein within the confines of the narrative, letting them have moments of reflection when there is no script to advance a scene. There are no big action sequences in this type of film, but the emotional intensity lends the actions and reactions of the characters plausibility. He also makes "Desperate Housewife" Felicity Huffman convincingly pansexual, caking her in make-up, adding jug ears and one of the most distressingly realistic prostheses you're likely to see on screen. The resulting movie is an absorbing hour and three-quarters of finely tuned character drama that is emotionally fulfilling to watch.
Tucker's screenplay is very firmly focussed on its central character as she struggles to come to terms with who she was so she can move on to become who she wants to be. As you might expect, it deals with a number of issues related to identity and belonging. As such it has a tendency to feel soapy on occasion as Bree reconciles herself with who she is both inside and out. Sub-plots relating to child abuse and difficult family relations feel like sops to issue-related filmmaking. Why have one person going through personal trauma when you can have several? The attitudes to Bree's situation tend towards the didactic, with every possible viewpoint represented. So we get Toby's initial disgust when he discovers the truth, his apparent acceptance when he thinks it will advance his situation and his hostile derision that shows itself because he simply can't get his head around the concept. This is juxtaposed with Bree's mother's incomprehension and Calvin's ultimate unquestioning validation of her as an attractive woman. All of the characters are written as individuals, but often feel like ciphers for different understandings of Bree's situation, with the exception of Toby who is struggling to come to terms with his own identity. The dialogue is well observed and juxtaposes Bree's erudition and conservatism with Toby's street smarts and ignorance of the world at large. This leads to some gentle comedy based on their clash of personalities. Their relationship is defined mostly by what remains unsaid, allowing the actors to push their performances beyond the script.
Felicity Huffman gives a highly creditable performance as Bree, embodying the transsexual's feelings of alienation and desire to fit in with aplomb. There's always a sense of social unease and a certainly chilly distance born of a need to protect herself. She's droll and dry but slowly thaws as the film progresses to show a deeply emotional centre that is a great contrast to her outwardly controlled persona. Huffman makes some brave character choices, giving Bree a certain stiffness that relates her emotional as well as physical discomfort. It somehow seems appropriate to her status as a person of almost indeterminate gender. What is harder to cope with is the husky voice that she employs because it has a tendency to flatten out the emotional range of the character and becomes somewhat monotonous to listen to.
Kevin Zegers does well to keep up with Huffman's performance as teenage hustler Toby. It's a nicely observed turn that conveys the young man's physical maturity but emotional insecurity and need for approval. He is by turns sullen and needy, snide and solicitous, always trying to profit from every situation. It's an impressively nuanced performance from a young actor and bodes well for the future.
There is a sterling supporting cast that features a handful of familiar faces. Elizabeth Peña is confident and earthy as Bree's psychiatrist. Graham Greene is warm, bluff and hearty as Bree's would-be suitor and Fionnula Flanagan is marvellous as Elizabeth, Bree/Stanley's manic, perma-tanned mother. You can pretty much smell the sly nips of cooking sherry she's undoubtedly been taking when no-one's looking.
The original music by David Mansfield goes for a country and western edge that I found difficult to reconcile with the accompanying action and the characters. Aside from desert-dwelling Calvin, there's no good reason for the preponderance of Spanish guitar melodies, steel guitar motifs, bluegrass, folk fiddle and yodelling. Though it fits together as a body of music, it seems alien to the rest of the movie. And Dolly Parton's Oscar-winning track "Travelin' Thru" may share some thematic links with the film, but isn't something I'd build an entire soundtrack around.
"Transamerica" is a thoughtful if occasionally issue-heavy character study that showcases some fine performances, especially from Felicity Huffman and Kevin Zegers. It is often entertaining and always watchable and I think it will find a much larger audience on DVD.
Advantages: Good performances, good film Disadvantages: Could have been better extras
...I have just finished watching Transamerica and can now say that I am doing a review on a film I really enjoyed and liked.
The film stars Felicity Huffman as a male-to-female transsexual called Sabrina, known in the film as Bree, formerly known as Stanley. The film pretty much gets started straight away showing Bree watching a video teaching voice exercises. The video that she is watching is actually a real clip by a woman named Andrea James and ... ...shows Bree working two jobs; I think the first part is really just to show the audience what her life is like. She works cleaning dishes in a restaurant and also telemarketing from home. Bree is a week away from her final operation, there is a short scene showing her going through an assessment, as she needs two signatures on an agreement, one from her doctor and one from her psychiatrist for the operation to go ahead. She receives one signature ...
Jo586 24.05.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Transamerica (DVD)
Advantages: Powerful, Moving, Brilliant Disadvantages: Subject May Keep People Away
...my head hurts!- Transamerica is an enchanting tale of acceptance, redemption and the long pursuit of happiness with a fully fledged beating heart and one of the most astonishing performances of the year thus far. It's a beautifully balanced story of survival and love that has such affection for its leading characters and such sparkling humour that it would be easy to forget the films strong messages, if it didn't have such a strong moral basis and ... ...Unlike many typical 'issue' movies, Transamerica doesn't spend all its time trying to hammer an idea across, it leaves its creative flow to develop character and situations that gently push the audience towards a pleasing and satisfying conclusion. Both hysterical and devastating the film takes its audience on an emotional journey that's well fleshed out with observation comedy and intelligent pathos. Never being very provocative, this film won't ...
JayHall1991 10.04.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Transamerica (DVD)
Advantages: makes you think Disadvantages: maybe not suited to all people
I recently received this film as one of my rentals from tesco and decided to watch it whilst my Fiance was out as he was adamant that he wouldn't like it as it wasn't ''his kind of film''!
I personally think he missed out as I thought this film to be excellent - not in a way that most people would say about a film that is full of action or sends you to tears but it was very thought provoking and I thought the main character played an excellent role.
... ...is in the middle of becoming a woman, Bree. Bree, as he already calls himself is played by Felicity Huffman who is more well known for her role as, funnily enough Bree, in Desperate Houswives. The week before Bree is to go in and have his surgery, he finds out by a phone call that he has a son from when he was in a relationship with a woman years previously and not only that this son is in prison in New York (Bree lives in LA). The film follows Bree ...
frankiecesca 24.11.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Transamerica (DVD)
Advantages: Felicity Huffman Disadvantages: Lack of decent extra's
...the past. Transamerica is one of those rare low key films that comes along and actually makes you question what you are seeing. With an astounding, and completely convincing, oddmark performance from famed Desperate Housewife Felicity Huffman, she carries the film on her shoulders with little support from the rest of the cast. Kevin Zegers is attractive enough as Toby, but he's left a little in the shadows by Huffman, who is a strong force with such ... ...job of placing his characters in middle America and making them fit despite their obvious differences. At the centre of this piece is a heartbreaking story about somebody who was born differently trying to gain acceptance in a world that still ridicules their existence, and what is believed to be their choices. Putting questions of gender-confusion into a script that so obviously aims to tickle your ribs could be a dangerous move, but due to Tucker's ...
bilbob20 31.01.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Transamerica (DVD)
Felicity Huffman leaves the glamour of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES behind and makes a surprising diversion with this offbeat film. Playing an uptight male-to-female transsexual named Sabrina Bree Osbourne (nee Stanley), Huffman gives a remarkable performance. Readying herself for the final snip that will make her womanly transformation complete, Bree's life takes a sudden turn when she receives a phone call from New York. Her son, Toby (Kevin Zegers), has been jailed, and Bree needs to post bail for him. The only problem is, Bree didn't know she had a son, but her therapist refuses to give her written permission to have the final part of her sex-change operation if she doesn't go, so Bree heads east from her California home. Thinking Bree is a Christian missionary, gay hustler Toby informs her of his intention to becom a porn star on the west coast, which brings out plenty of motherly instincts in the worried cross-gender father. So the two take a road trip back west, with Bree flailing in her attempts to tell Toby the truths about who she is and what she once was. Writer/director Duncan Tucker gets the balance between comedy and drama just right as he gently squeezes Bree's various revelations to Toby onto the screen. But it's Huffman who really shines, with her vocal inflections, makeup, and acting skills perfectly combining to give a convincing performance as the ultra-conservative Bree. Tucker doesn't focus too much on Bree's gender-hopping, instead crafting an emotional portrait of a highly dysfunctional family, while constantly dragging his audience back from the brink by weaving a killer laugh-out-loud line into the plot. A fine supporting cast in particular Fionnula Flanagan (THE OTHERS) as Bree's hilariously overbearing mother helps to deflect from the film's low-budget origins, with pithy dialogue and energetic performances combining to make TRANSAMERICA a wonderfully satisfying treat.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
PATHE DISTRIBUTION; 20TH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT
That the film succeeds without slipping too far into sentimentality or didacticism is in no small measure the result of Ms. Huffman's wit and grace. (New York Times, )
The movie's soul is Huffman... She turns this small, resonant film into a cry from the heart. (Rolling Stone, )
TRANSAMERICA affectionately delivers some familiar standards while twisting them with a new metrosexual spin (Sight And Sound, )
DVD Description
Felicity Huffman leaves the glamour of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES behind and makes a surprising diversion with this offbeat film. Playing an uptight male-to-female transsexual named Sabrina Bree Osbourne (nee Stanley), Huffman gives a remarkable performance. Readying herself for the final snip that will make her womanly transformation complete, Bree's life takes a sudden turn when she receives a phone call from New York. Her son, Toby (Kevin Zegers), has been jailed, and Bree needs to post bail for him. The only problem is, Bree didn't know she had a son, but her therapist refuses to give her written permission to have the final part of her sex-change operation if she doesn't go, so Bree heads east from her California home. Thinking Bree is a Christian missionary, gay hustler Toby informs her of his intention to becom a porn star on the west coast, which brings out plenty of motherly instincts in the worried cross-gender father. So the two take a road trip back west, with Bree flailing in her attempts to tell Toby the truths about who she is and what she once was. Writer/director Duncan Tucker gets the balance between comedy and drama just right as he gently squeezes Bree's various revelations to Toby onto the screen. But it's Huffman who really shines, with her vocal inflections, makeup, and acting skills perfectly combining to give a convincing performance as the ultra-conservative Bree. Tucker doesn't focus too much on Bree's gender-hopping, instead crafting an emotional portrait of a highly dysfunctional family, while constantly dragging his audience back from the brink by weaving a killer laugh-out-loud line into the plot. A fine supporting cast in particular Fionnula Flanagan (THE OTHERS) as Bree's hilariously overbearing mother helps to deflect from the film's low-budget origins, with pithy dialogue and energetic performances combining to make TRANSAMERICA a wonderfully satisfying treat.
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