Movie review: Transamerica

By Chris Turner -
Tiffani continues to wow me with movie selections, Transamerica was a recent Friday choice and we were both sufficiently moved. Briefly, a pre-operative transsexual discovers that she fathered a son, Toby, during college (yes, that wording was deliberate). Toby needs bailing out after being arrested for hustling in New York City, so, with motivations that go unexplained -- is it duty or guilt or curiousity? -- Bree flies from California to the rescue. The bulk of the movie is made up of their road trip back west, with Bree heading home and Toby hoping to break into the movie industry.

A compelling story, with gut-churning developments and dillemas, Transamerica also fulfills those with eyes for literary elements, what with the symbolism sprinkled throughout (the many hats Bree wears, the focus on the photo that Bree adjusts of the tribe of body altering tribesman, the neck lengtheners). Charming, superbly-acted (Felicity Huffman deserved the Oscar nomination and her Golden Globe and SAG wins for her transformation and voice work), Transamerica was a satisfying ride in the foreign land of transexuality.

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