The reason I gave TransAmerica a wide berth upon its cinema release was largely due to the fact I’ve watched a couple of episodes of Desperate Housewives which stars Felicity Huffman, and I wasn’t a fan of either. However, I’m pleased to say that in TransAmerica, Huffman gives one of the best acting performances I’ve witnessed in a long time – it completely blew me away. How she didn’t win the Oscar I will never know!
In what is essentially a fascinating twist on a road-movie, Huffman plays Bree, a pre-operative, male-to-female transsexual who was born and raised a man but inhabits her adulthood as a woman. Bree is preparing to undergo vaginoplasty when she gets a call from her 17 year old delinquent son Toby, whom she didn’t know she had. The two come together and so ensues a trans-American highway trek from the East Coast to the West Coast, during which Bree and Toby’s fractious relationship develops.
TransAmerica is a gem of a movie, although I have to say not as funny as the hype and buzz around it suggested. Then again on reflection I’m not so sure it was meant to be THAT whimsical and funny. Don’t get me wrong there are some very funny scenes, but at times the film is also quite dark and uncomfortable. Ultimately it was well worth the journey, just to see Huffman’s turn as a man.
Edited Mon 21 Aug 2006 at 8:02am
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