TransAmerica (2005)
September 11th 2010 03:12
A week from the surgery that will see Stanley Chupak (Felicity Huffman) realise his dream and become Bree officially, Bree receives a telephone call from a 17 year old street kid/hustler in New York City who claims to be Stanleys son, Toby (Kevin Zegers). Bree had no idea she had fathered a child all those years ago in college, and before her therapist Margaret (Elizabeth Pena) will sign the final consent for surgery, she advises Bree to go to New York and make peace with her past.
Arriving in New York, Bree bails Toby from jail, and on hearing that Toby's desire is to move to LA to make it in the movies, she agree's to a drive him to California, although secretly she plans on taking him home to his stepfather, much against the wishes of Toby himself.
Arriving in the small town that Toby grew up in Bree arranges for Toby's stepfather to arrive at the home of a family friend, and it is here that Toby's secret - a childhood of sexual abuse at the hands of the man who raised him - comes to light in a vicious attack against Toby by his stepfather.
Back on the road, and in a race against the clock to return to California in time for her surgery, Bree and Toby pick up a young hitch hiker who ends up stealing their car, and it's only through the friendly intervention of Calvin (Graham Greene) that Bree and Toby make it back to Bree's childhood hometown.
Bree and Toby arrive on the doorstep of her parents home, hoping to borrow the money needed to fly back to California. But Bree isn't welcome by her mother (Finnola Flanagan). Her father Murray (Burt Young) and recovering alcoholic sister Sydney (Carrie Preston) do their best for the travellers and it is here that Toby discovers Bree's secret, that Bree is the father he never knew.
TransAmerica is a road movie with a difference. Felicity Huffman shines in the role of pre-op transexual Bree. Torn between her desire to live her life as she was born to be, and with the added stress of an unexpected son, the rollercoaster of emotions required to play this character earned Huffman a Best Actress Nomination at the 2005 Academy Awards.
This moving story, written and directed by Duncan Tucker is both powerful and intimate. Fast paced, with exceptional writing, TransAmerica is a film that truly connects with the audience. The cast are all brilliant and TransAmerica is a film that takes a hard to handle subject and creates a beautiful masterpiece with a gentle touch.
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