By Terra Simms
Director: Duncan Tucker
Starring: Felicity Huffman, Kevin Zegers
Rated: R
Run time: 103 minutes
Release date: In theaters
Writer-director Duncan Tucker, best known for his gay-themed short films, has ventured into full-length features with 2005’s “Transamerica.” After traveling the film festival circuit from Tribeca to Toronto, the movie has finally arrived in Louisville.
Beginning in New Mexico, we meet Bree, played by “Desperate Housewife” Felicity Huffman. Bree is a male-to-female transsexual about to finalize her transformation from Stanley to Bree Osbourne, when she receives a phone call from a young man in New York City searching for his father.
At the request of her therapist Bree reluctantly travels to meet Toby, a drug addict and male prostitute played by Kevin Zegers (“Dawn of the Dead”). Toby, who is constantly approached by missionaries, assumes that Bree is one herself. He isn’t aware that Bree is not a female missionary, but his father.
Together the pair unenthusiastically visit their childhood homes en route to L.A. The bond between the two develops with unrealistic speed, and the audience never gets a chance to see how the characters deal with their issues when they’re on their own.
“Transamerica” addresses universal issues through depicting the worlds of two individuals many people would not typically identify with. Toby and Bree use their bodies to express their inner and outer turmoil, one by abusing drugs and sex, the other by dismembering her body. As drastic as it all may seem, both just want to be seen as more than a product or production. Toby wants the intimacy he sells, and Bree wants to be the woman she feels within.
The film examines the lack of intimacy in familial relationships, and the changes people are willing to make to better their lives and the lives of those around them.
Felicity Huffman, fresh off a Golden Globe win and nominee for the Academy Award for her lead performance in “Transamerica” delivers more than a performance worthy of an award, but worthy of deeper exploration into transgender issues in America.
“Transamerica” is not just an attempt for Oscar gold, but an attempt to expose the deviating side of our society with two normal human beings needing healthy attachments to others and themselves.
The 1-hour, 43-minute film feels like just the right length for a movie you’ll enjoy while you’re watching it but may not remember long after.
