Huffman saves the day

Lead performance rescues forgettable film

By: Scott Hansen

Posted: 4/26/07

There is a song sung by Dolly Parton that accompanies the credits of "Transamerica" titled "Traveling Through." The song was an Oscar Nominee for Best Song in 2006, and rightfully so. It is hard to recall a movie's song that expresses where the film lies amongst past films of its nature.

"Transamerica" could easily be called an edgier type of film, as it showcases transsexuals and their lifestyle in a way that really has never been done before. Because of this, you would think the makers of the film would make sure everything about the film is perfect.

Taking a look at other movies that take on edgier topics, such as "Brokeback Mountain" or "Passion of the Christ," there is a hint that everyone involved in the films' making believed in what was being put on the screen. They understood that in order to present what they believed in, they had to make the movie in a way that no one could fault them for.

The movie lacks a respect for itself in many instances, and if it were not for the amazing performance by "Desperate Housewives" star Felicity Huffman, I doubt it would be as interesting to watch as it ends up being.

Huffman plays Bree, a highly intelligent and conservative transsexual woman who lives in a poor section of Los Angeles and works as both a dishwasher at a Mexican restaurant and as a telemarketer.

The money she is earning from both jobs is not going to her housing payments as one would expect. Instead the money she earns goes into paying her therapist and saving for her final sexual reassignment surgery.

In order to get the surgery, Bree must have clearance from her therapist. Moments away from convincing the therapist to allow her to go through with it, she receives a phone call informing her that when she was a 'he,' she fathered a son.

The therapist is convinced that the only way the surgery will truly make Bree happy is if it forces her to leave her old life behind, and insists Bree confront the boy before she gives consent to undergo the surgery.

The opening act of the film is done extraordinarily well and was definitely headed in the right direction. However, once Bree begins to make the trip to see her son and finally does meet him, the film seems to feel the need to spice itself up rather than let things flow naturally.

The best example of this comes from the motivation for most of the actions that Bree's son Toby takes. The reason for Toby's calling upon his father, it turns out, is so that he can be taken back to California in order to fulfill his dream of becoming a porn star. This leads to pointless sex scenes and drug abusing spectacles that naturally take away from any good qualities the movie has going for it.

For most of the film, Toby does not know that Bree is his father and that Bree is really a man. This makes for some comic relief that would normally work in a movie dedicated to setting straight those who oppose transgender operations, but instead it falls flat against the backdrop of the film's unnecessary sequences of gratuitous sexuality.

In the end, it is disappointing a film such as "Transamerica" works the formula of films like "Brokeback Mountain" and "Passion of the Christ" into itself somewhere along the line. It appears that the filmmakers wanted to make a film that brought the difficult subject matter to the forefront, yet wanted it to be as entertaining as a film like "American Pie."

It ends up failing on more than one level, and becomes neither a "Brokeback Mountain" type film nor an "American Pie" type film. Those movies were memorable because they were not only good, but essentially they did what they set out to do.

It's hard to determine what the main purpose of "Transamerica" is - or was - supposed to be. This alone makes it just another movie, one that simply is just traveling through.