Review of Transamerica (2005) by Adam H — 27 Jan 2011

Transamerica is the first film from writer-director Duncan Tucker, and it shows. The film feels like a television "dramedy," predictable and full of clichés and uninspired, one-dimensional supporting characters. However, the remarkable, layered and complex performance from Felicity Huffman as Bree makes the film worth watching, and even touching in certain moments.

In Roger Ebert's review of the film, he acknowledges that it is Felicity Huffman's layered performance that holds the film together, and that due to the film's topic, typical Hollywood conventions are flipped on their sides.

"It is precisely because she is so conventionally sincere that the movie gathers power in deep places while maintaining a relative surface calm. How does she respond to the undeniable interest of Calvin Two Goats? Reader, she blushes. This is all new for her, too. What Felicity Huffman brings to Bree is the newness of a Jane Austen heroine. She has been waiting a long time to be an ingenue, and what an irony that she must begin as a mother (Ebert).".

This is one of the aspects of the film that I liked. People assume that most transgender people are all homosexual sex maniacs, and Tucker treats Bree as a proper 1950s-style lady. There is very little sexuality to her, she even admits that she only had sex once and it was "a college thing" that she didn't really count. To see her being courted by a suitor is fun, and the coy way she reacts to it really suits her character.

Transamerica touches on the American Dream to some extent, but it also pokes holes in American idealism. Bree comes from a wealthy family, and is rather intelligent, so she could seemingly be a very successful person. However, she has shunned her family for the most part and moved to Los Angeles where she works two jobs to save money for her sex change operation. She says nice things about only wanting her parents to look at her with respect. The fact is though, that she went to college for ten years and produced no degree, is somewhat flakey and ambivalent and seems to carry a lot of emotional baggage which negatively affects her psyche. This makes her an average flawed human being, but the fact is that if she would assert herself more and utilize her intelligence and skills, she could be more than a waitress/telemarketer hustling to make a buck. It is as if part of her wants to experience being a part of the working class to rebel against her mother, while the other part wants to play dress-up and make believe like she is her mother back in the 1950s. It is an interesting dichotomy.

During the road trip portion of the film, director Duncan Tucker makes it clear that Middle America cannot accept Bree because she is a transgender person and those types of people do not mesh with Middle America. Perhaps he is right, but it feels sort of preachy. Bree seems to be fine in New York and Los Angeles, but in between she is out of place. A little girl even asks her if she is a boy or a girl, and Bree has a mild meltdown of sorts. This point is further reiterated during the sequence where Bree meets Calvin Two Goats. In a scene at a gas station, a group of men look at her as she pumps the gas with a mixture of inquisitiveness and disgust on their faces, yet when she meets Calvin Two Goats in a diner, he is a perfect gentleman who treats her like a proper lady. The fact that Calvin Two Goats is a Native American should not be lost on the audience. Bree does not attract a White or Black Middle American suitor, she attracts a Native American which further pushes the point that Middle America is not entirely accepting of transgender people. Transamerica is a fascinating film with an amazing performance, but it lacks a true heart and cohesive narrative structure.