TransAmerica - Realism in Movies?

TransAmerica
2005
Dir: Duncan Tucker
Starring: Felicity Huffman, Kevin Zegers

Synopsis from IMDB: A pre-operative male-to-female transsexual takes an unexpected journey when she learns that she fathered a son, now a teenage runaway hustling on the streets of New York.

Welcome to probably one of the most realistic portrayals of transsexualism in popular media today. Surprisingly critically acclaimed, this likely shares the crown of "Most mainstream and publically known films with a transgender theme or character, next to "Boys Don't Cry." This was nominated for two Academy Awards in 2006, for song by Dolly Parton and Best Performance by Felicity Huffman.

Now, with that out of the way, let's get into the meat - First off, it's the story of a Transwoman, just a few weeks away from her scheduled SRS. A transwoman.. played by Felicity Huffman. A genetic woman who is playing a pre-op transsexual. In an interview with her on the DVD, she comments with the director that she had a hard time because she did things "too feminine." A woman playing a "man" transitioning to a woman. I've heard quite a bit of criticism that they didn't have a real transwoman play the role, of course, but then, I only know of a few transwomen actresses in Hollywood.

I have a hard time with this movie - I own it, and I watch it on occasion, and I think it's an important film. However, it's not fun. It's not entertaining to me.
That does not diminish it's significance, however.

Bree (Sabrina Claire Osborne, and no, that's now where I got my name from)is a neurotic character, obsessed with her SRS, and while it definitely seems to be a realistic portrayal, she is by no means representative of transsexuals in general.

During the movie, she loses her hormones, and is shown stealing her mother's HRT pills because she is so obsessive about her hormones. After losing her hormones, there's a comment made that she's scared her breasts are shrinking after only 2 days off hormones. Her inability to cope with certain aspects of life - they make her out to be incredibly helpless and scared - seems to me to be unrealistic. Granted, it could just be that Bree is simply that neurotic and helpless regardeless of her transsexual status, but it seems like they play it up as a gender stereotype.

At heart, the story is about the reconnection of a parent and their child. In a lot of ways, the fact that Bree is transsexual is secondary to that story, although it obviously is the film's "gimmick." It's also a road movie in a crazy station wagon.

Think National Lampoon's Vacation meets Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. (Actually, Priscilla did it better, I think, but that's neither here nor there.)

The acting performances are stellar, and again, while Bree is an imperfect character, is a realistic portrayal of what being transsexual is like - she watches Andrea James' Voice Training DVD, she's woefully underemployed, and concerned with her appearance, passing, and desperate to get her SRS. Kevin Zegers is excellent as Bree's estranged son, a street hustler and sex worker who's been working the streets of NYC, and addicted to drugs.

Naturally, like all transgender/transsexual films, (note my sarcasm here) there is the quintessential and totally cliched stereotypes of being stealth, hiding, and of course, being found out; at one point, having to use the restroom by the side of the road, Bree gives up trying to squat and resorts to standing to pee, when she's found out by her son. There's a scene of a transgender support group in the south, led by quite a few very publically out transfolks that's hilarious to watch - Bree obviously cannot deal with people being out in public.

It's not a fairytale ending, which lends credibility to the film - but it's definitely a realistic and satisfying ending.

In the end, I feel the film's worthwhile to watch. I don't know that it's worth a purchase unless you can find it used or in the bargain bin, but it's worth watching at least once. I don't particularly enjoy this film, and I certainly wouldn't call it entertaining in the way, say, Iron Man is entertaining. There's no explosions, there's lots of dialogue, and very little happens that you could consider "exciting." The humor mostly is of the "nervous chuckle" variety, so I wouldn't even call it a comedy.

That being said, it's a very competent film, and yes, I would argue that it was worthy of it's Oscar nominations. I don't think I'll watch it that frequently, but it definitely should be a required watch, at least once.

Sabrina's Rating: 7.5 out of 10 for being a superbly acted and competent film, albeit not that entertaining or exciting.