Review of Transamerica (2005) by Rhiannon S — 14 Aug 2008

The topic of gender identity or transsexuality is not new - Boys Don't Cry - but if Bree and the film Transamerica are raising voices against discrimination, they do it more quietly. Bree only wants to be nice to the boy, and help him mend his ways, and as many well-intentioned parents do, Bree sometimes overreaches herself.

The film's theme is more universal than its subject matter might lead you to expect. Slightly downbeat Transamerica offers a few laughs along the way, but it basically belongs to the road movie genre that has been seen in past films many times.

On the way to their destination, Bree and Toby meet people, come to understand each other, and themselves too, sadder and wiser than before. The format is surely predictable, including such familiar items as a young hitchhiker, crowded bar, truck driver, and reunion with family, but it works because of Felicity Huffman's excellent portrait of Bree, and authentic acting from Kevin Zegers as a troubled teenager.

Capable supporting actors such as Fionnula Flanagan, Burt Young, Graham Greene, and Elizabeth Pena appear, but the segment of Fionnula Flanagan and Burt Young playing Bree's parents look a little out of place after watching the film's slower first half depicting the quiet and clever exchange of words between Bree and Toby.

Fionnula Flanagan's over-the-top acting as Bree's controlling mother might impress you (like a character you can see in a sit-com), but not in the same way as the off-beat rhythm of earnestness in Felicity Huffman's character, which makes her more human and likable without patronizing.

I say this because Transamerica offers a curiously pleasant experience of watching unique subject matter treated with an orthodox approach. The film deals with sexuality, but it is not exactly about sexuality itself.

The film succeeds because it refuses to be shocking or campy.