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TRANSAMERICA is a road trip transgender ride that has an equal amount of tears and laughs along this fun ride. Felicity Huffman of Desperate Housewives fame shows here yes, I'm on a hit TV show, but I can act too. She is a life force as she carries this comedy/drama with her original and heart touching performance. After seeing this, I'm convinced Huffman should have got the Oscar over Witherspoon as this is a much more complex and layered performance. It's not an easy one to do as she really puts herself out there and is fearless. She stars as Bree Osbourne, who is a man about to go a sex change to be a woman. She is a week away from this operation finally, when she gets a phone call informing her that she has a 17-year old son in juvi. He is named Toby and played by Kevin Zegers. He is hustling on the streets to get by and selling drugs, when he is caught by the police. With his mother dead and no other family members, they call Bree to bail him out. She is hesitant to do so especially upon hearing some of the seedy aspects of life he is involved with. But her therapist encourages her it might be a good idea to come to terms with her past and it might be good for her. Bree pretends to be a Christian Church woman who takes in troubled children. Toby has no idea it's his father, and has no idea that she's really a man. I'm not usually a fan of films that relie on plot complications and things the audience knows, yet the characters don't. But in TRANSAMERICA, all things considered, I think it was a realistic complication that Bree would hide from her son. Considering what she is like, and what the son is like. They take a road trip to LA, as that is where she can get her sex change, and he wants to be an actor in pornographic films. The film is strongest in the road trip moments as Bree and Toby really get to know each other and considering how unique and different their characters are, it's a recipe for awkward, messy, and overall funny moments. Not to mention, some really touching scenes that play as genuine drama. During the road trip scenes I kept asking myself what this reminds me of and I came to the conclusion it was similar to MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969), my favorite film of all time. It shows how two people who are completely different in personalities can become close due to a similar need of human contact. Bree is disowned by her family, and has no friends due to her transgender life style. Toby is a street person in the sense of Joe Buck in MIDNIGHT COWBOY, who only knows life through hustling and drugs. So when these two come together, they are able to finally be themselves, be loved, be respected, and seen as worthwhile. Instead, of laughed at, mistreated or, or seen as misfits. The relationship between the two of them is the nucleus of this film. The film also has a great moment where Bree and Toby meet Bree's parents played by Burt Young and Fionnula Flanagan. Burt Young is playing an over the top version of well, himself, Burt Young. Fionnula Flanagan, who some might remember as the mother in FOUR BROTHERS, is very demanding, and condescending. Upon seeing her parents, you see why she has some of the issues that she does and why she got as far away from these nut jobs as possible. But it also helps Bree be comfortable in her own skin and as who she wants to be, regardless of popular opinion. What goes on in the last quarter of TRANSAMERICA is what we expect. He rejects her, but he can't reject her, because it's his father, and soon he comes to terms with her. Nothing really unexpected or any major twists. But when you invest this much time with the characters on the road trip, and the story is so original as this, you overlook it and love it just as much. Huffman is the star in this one as puts a sympathetic and human twist on this man wanting to be a woman. TRANSAMERICA is a great human story that will leave you with a smile on your face, and a few tears shed, and it's a fun journey. -Tony Farinella Grade: A- email this review to a friend
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