Plot
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.
Release Year: 2005
Rating: 7.5/10 (24,010 voted)
Critic's Score: 66/100
Director:
Duncan Tucker
Stars: Felicity Huffman, Kevin Zegers, Fionnula Flanagan
Storyline Southern Californian Bree Osbourne, who was formerly Stanley Chupak, has finally received the news for which she has been waiting: she has been approved for male-to-female sexual reassignment surgery. But before Margaret, her therapist, will allow her to go through with the surgery scheduled in a week's time, Bree has to deal with an unresolved issue from her past. Bree got a telephone call from a seventeen year old man named Toby Wilkins, who was looking for Stanley, his biological father. Toby is in a New York jail, he who supports himself by petty crime and hustling. Stanley/Bree knew nothing about Toby before the telephone call. Toby apparently is all alone in the world, with his mother having committed suicide and being estranged from his stepfather in Tennessee. Masquerading as a Christian social worker, Bree, not telling him either of her true identity or her transgendered status...
Cast: Andrea James
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Voice Coach
Felicity Huffman
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Bree
Danny Burstein
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Dr. Spikowsky
Maurice Orozco
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Fernando
Elizabeth Peña
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Margaret
Craig Bockhorn
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Sergeant
Paul Borghese
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New York City Cop
Kevin Zegers
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Toby
Jon Budinoff
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Alex
Venida Evans
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Arletty
Raynor Scheine
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Bobby Jensen
Kate Bayley
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Tennessee Waitress
Stella Maeve
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Taylor
Teala Dunn
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Little Girl
Jim Frangione
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Taylor's Father
Trivia:
Many scenes involve improvisation. The scene where the characters are riding in the car towards sunset is one of them: the director (Duncan Tucker) asked Felicity Huffman to start poking Kevin Zegers in the stomach and shoulder. Kevin Zegers stayed in character, and the director liked the result.
Goofs:
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers):
Bree's sister, half Jewish, misuses the Yiddish phrase "kin-ahora" when she hears about Toby's mother's suicide. The phrase means "may the evil eye be averted" and is roughly equivalent to "knock on wood". It is used when you say something GOOD, to avert a spell cast by a jealous person or a demon. It would NEVER be used with respect to something bad.
Quotes: Toby:
And these shoes. Three dollars, a dollar fifty each. You know how much these things are worth in Japan? Bree Osbourne:
Three dollars? Toby:
Like 500 dollars. Japanese people kill for old Nikes. Bree Osbourne:
Then you probably should avoid wearing them in Japan. Toby:
Yeah, I'd probably be, like, disemboweled by a ninja. Bree Osbourne:
You don't have to say "like". "Probably disemboweled by a ninja" is sufficient. And please don't put your feet up on the dashboard.
User Review
Felicity Huffman's wry performance is Oscar quality
Rating: 10/10
I first saw Transamerica as the closing film for the Frameline film
festival in San Francisco where it won the "The Frameline Audience
Award for Best Feature". The film was obviously a labor of love. Duncan
Tucker wrote, directed and wisely cast Felicity Huffman as Bree (before
she had been cast as a "desperate housewife"). Huffman's husband
William Macy was executive producer.
The plot line is certainly the tried and true formula of the
transformational road trip, yet the irony of Bree's concurrent sexual
transformation freshens a story that could easily have been cliché.
Kevin Zegers and the rest of the supporting cast are superb, but
Huffman's characterization of Bree is Oscar caliber.
See Transamerica! It's not tragic like "Boys Don't Cry". It's not about
sexuality, fetish, or camp. It's a movie about otherness,
transformation, family, and ultimately acceptance. Felicity Huffman's
Golden Globe winning and Oscar nominated performance is absolutely
astounding. Her acting skill fills Bree with insecurity, pathos,
warmth, humor, and growth which ultimately transforms the audience's
involvement from freak show curiosity to empathy and identification.
Thankfully the Weinstein brothers recognized just how outstandingly
strong this performance is and decided that Transamerica would be one
of the first films they would choose to distribute after their great
success at Miramax.
I saw this movie again during it's limited distribution, again in
general distribution and now own the DVD. Each time I've watched it I
find even more to like. Transamerica is an indie classic.
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