>>REVIEW
TRANSAMERICA
STARRING Felicity Huffman, Kevin Zegers, Elizabeth Pena
DIRECTED BY Duncan Tucker
Bree Osbourne is a pre-op male-to-female transsexual who cannot wait for the operation that will make her a woman. Living a quiet and solitary life in Los Angeles, she works two jobs in order to pay for her surgery. Then, one day, she gets a phone call that will change her life. Toby (Kevin Zegers) is looking for his birth father. That would be Bree, who had no idea that an encounter in college produced a son. Bree discusses the phone call with her therapist Margaret (Elizabeth Pena), who suggests that she confront the son she never knew. Bree is reluctant, but Margaret has the power to deny Bree her surgery, which she does, saying she needs to be emotionally ready before her final transformation.
When Bree finds Toby in New York, selling his body on the streets and addicted to hard drugs, Toby mistakes her for an evangelical Christian. Bree goes along with this deception and decides that she can simply drop him off at his stepfather’s place and be done with him. However, things don’t go as planned and Toby and Bree soon find themselves on a road trip where they will encounter a variety of characters, culminating in Bree confronting her parents about her operation.
Transamerica is the type of movie whose success hinges on its portrayal of its protagonist, and Huffman is perfectly suited to her role. Not only is she utterly believable physically and vocally, but her performance perfectly portrays Bree’s fragile emotional state. Demure and insecure, Bree is a far cry from the usual movie portrayal of transsexuals as outrageous and outgoing. Huffman’s performance is subtle and, thankfully, free of the usual Oscar-clip histrionics that can hinder a film like this.
Zegers doesn’t quite disappear as fully into his role. Although his acting is good, he just doesn’t look the part. He’s supposed to be a street hustler with a drug problem, but his perfect skin and hair make him look like he’s a change of clothes away from being on the cover of Teen People. The bond that eventually forms between Toby and Bree is believable, but some parts of the film, especially when Bree sees her parents again, come off as overly melodramatic.
Despite these flaws, the movie is enjoyable and Huffman’s performance is fantastic. Professional, transformative and layered, her portrayal of Bree is more than enough to make the film worth seeing. |
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