Duncan Tucker's 'Transamerica' is a study in what it takes to be a good indie film in contemporary America. It challenges norms, but takes care not to challenge its audience, tackling transexuality without taking any particular stand on the issue, and in turn, it makes people care.
People of all beliefs and life styles will be helpless in loving Bree Osbourne (Felicity Huffman) and the son she unknowingly fathered. 'Transamerica' is unmistakable in its character development and moves with masterful determination toward its end. It is fiercely unique, and though Huffman's Academy Award-nominated performance may not win her the gold, it is still reckless and believable.
The story begins with Bree, formerly a man named Stanley, with her final sex change surgery only one week away. One mysterious evening, Bree receives a call from a juvenile penitentiary in New York City where allegedly, her 17-year-old son Toby (Kevin Zegers) is being held for soliciting sex and shoplifting a frog. Bree's therapist demands that she take responsibility, threatening to withhold necessary release forms for the surgery. So Bree disguises herself as a missionary from 'The Church of the Potential Father' and takes Toby on a cross-country trip to Los Angeles, where she plans to have her surgery and Toby plans to pursue a career in the pornographic film industry.
The trip moves through many strange, unexpected twists, involving Toby's abusive stepfather, a thieving vegan hitch-hiker, a kind Native American full of history and Bree's oppressive, wealthy parents. All the while, she fights to keep both her true gender and relationship to Toby a secret. However, when her plans fail, the outcome is, at least for a time, devastating.
If this movie is about anything, it is about truth'finding the truth, telling the truth and keeping the truth. After never being able to stick to a single decision in her entire life, Bree knows that she will stick to this one. She is a woman, and 'Transamerica' lets her be a woman. What is great about this movie is that it lets her have her sexuality however she wants it. She is admired, loved and even pursued by men, and the honesty with which these scenes are handled in the film is poignant. Huffman laces a shy, optimistic thread through her performance, giving it a feminine touch while remaining completely unabashed. She leads people to believe that they can be anything they want to be, and that it is possible to rouse others into being right there with them. In this light alone, 'Transamerica' is a valuable story of trouble and honesty. It is savagely hard, yet it has much heart. Forgiveness is the ribbon that ties the bow around truth in this film, and when it ends, there is satisfaction right through the credits.
