Androgynous, transgender, intersex, hermaphrodite, transvestite, cross-dresser, transsexual — the list of terms for anyone who challenges the line that divides male and female is lengthy, fascinating and all too often misunderstood.
The new film "Transamerica" tackles just one of the many issues that surround gender. In a Golden Globe winning and Oscar nominated performance, Felicity Huffman stars as Bree Osbourne, a pre-operative male-to-female transsexual living in Los Angeles. Also referred to as gender identity disorder, transsexualism refers to a person who is assigned one gender biologically but identifies as belonging to another.
Bree works at both a local restaurant and as a telemarketer trying to save every penny possible. Her vaginoplasty is approaching fast — the final operation that will fully transform her into a woman.
However, one week beforehand, Bree receives an odd phone call. On the other end of the line is someone asking for Stanley (Bree's former name). Toby (Kevin Zegers, "Some Things That Stay"), a 17 year-old drug user and hustler, is locked up in a juvenile detention center in New York and claims that Stanley is his long-lost father.
Shocked to discover that Toby is the product of an awkward sexual encounter she had during college, Bree's life is turned upside down. Under pressure from her therapist, who declares that she cannot simply erase her past, Bree flies east to bail Toby out.
Not completely upfront with the boy, she agrees to his assumption that she is a Christian missionary determined to convert him to Jesus. After she discovers his plans to hitchhike to Los Angeles, Bree convinces him to accompany her back to the West Coast; although her actual intentions are to return him to his stepfather's in Kentucky.
What ensues is a remarkable take on the classic road-trip story. Never sure just where the story is headed, the audience is kept in constant suspense. Not only must they wonder when Toby will find out that Bree is a transsexual, but also that she is indeed the father for whom he is so desperately searching.
Beyond talented, it is about time that Felicity Huffman is getting the recognition she deserves. It started in September when she walked away with an Emmy for her role on "Desperate Housewives," beating out all the other ladies on Wisteria Lane in the process. Then in January she snatched up the Golden Globe. And sure, she may have lost out on the Oscar this year, but that doesn't exactly make her a slouch. An Oscar nomination is still a hefty addition to the old resume.
But how deserved is it? One could argue that playing a transsexual is a strategic step for an actor in Hollywood, the same way that "playing gay" has become Oscar-worthy time and time again. More than just using a lower voice and wearing a prosthetic penis, one must see "Transamerica" to understand why Huffman deserves such praise.
She creates a multi-layered character who not only transcends gender, but also simultaneously embodies faith and despair. It is that balance between humorous and serious that Huffman excels at. She makes Bree her own — whether it is delivering deadpan one-liners or connecting with the audience through a simple facial expression.
As much as "Transamerica" may be Huffman's film, Zeger still manages to stand his own opposite the veteran actress. Without the two actors' natural chemistry, the emotional pull behind Huffman's performance would fall flat. It is through the development of their relationship that "Transamerica" succeeds.
What is most refreshing, however, is how the movie is able to provide emotional payoff without punching the audience in the gut with it. Transsexuality is an intense issue that is surrounded by fear and misunderstanding, which can provide for some rather depressing subject material.
One need only turn to Hilary Swank's female-to-male tour de force in "Boys Don't Cry" to understand where such intense emotion can come from. Huffman's performance still taps into that same anguish, but the audience is never put through complete emotional torment. Instead of focusing on the bleak and tragic, "Transamerica" is a story of hope and respect.
Words such as "issue" and "disorder" which are associated with transsexualism are problematic. Loaded with negative connotations, they serve only to augment the social ostracism of such individuals. But as one side character, who is also a transsexual, so eloquently puts it, "We walk among you."
It is as simple as that. This film does not set out to make a grandiose statement describing how people are people. Instead, in the case of "Transamerica," what matters most is that parents are parents.
Rating: 4 out of 5
