At first, it seems writer/director Duncan Tucker has fallen victim to the predictable plot points of his chosen genre. However, by putting Bree and Toby through the paces of a road trip, the plot takes a backseat (no pun intended) to character. We get to know Bree throughout their journey - her intelligence, her paternal/maternal side, her flirtations with a friendly Native American, her repression that borders on self-loathing - and Huffman really deserves all the critical acclaim she's receiving. Her awkward, exaggerated physicality and tightly-controlled voice are fascinating, yet she stretches beyond gimmicks to fuse Stanley and Bree into one complex person.
The cliches continue in the last third of the film, where Bree confronts her unaccepting family. Her parents don't understand her, her sister is too self-absorbed to help, past mistakes are used against her, etc. The mother's melodramatic rejection of Bree reflects her own insecurities, as if she's certain that her son's supposed failures reflect her own shortcomings as a mother. Although these familial relationships and tense dinner scenes are cliches at this point, Tucker slyly uses them to show how universal Bree's problems are. Who can't relate to the dysfunctional family? The audience sympathizes with Bree because she's a person with the same kind of problems we all have (unless you come from a functional family, in which case you are the freak).
All in all, Transamerica is satisfying enough, with a serviceable script elevated by an incredible performance by Huffman. Actually, while I am a Reese Witherspoon fan, if Huffman trumps her for the Oscar this year, I wouldn't object.
But now I'm going to crank out that script for the Transamerica sitcom. Maybe I could call it "Two and a Half Men". Or "Three's Company". Wait, those are already taken. How about "Desperate Pre-Operative Transsexual Housewives"? Obviously, it's a work in progress. Just like Bree.
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Article comments
1 - Joanie
Exceptional review, Don! I've placed it on the TV/Film Section page as a featured review.
Take a bow, sir.
2 - Christopher Rose
I'd not heard of this movie before encountering this review so thanks for writing it so well, sounds a fun movie.
3 - Don Baiocchi
Thanks, Joanie! Quite a compliment.
Chris, the movie is pretty small. It's doesn't have very wide distribution, but since Huffman has been nominated for Best Actress it might start receiving more attention. And thanks for the kind words.
4 - A.L, Harper
Wow! I'm there for this one!
5 - Jojo
Thanks for such a funny and clever review. On my way to see this movie based SOLEY on your review...
6 - Rodney Welch
You missed all the more obvious cliches. Bree and son cross the country, for heaven's sake, in a CAR, with a STEERING WHEEL. How many times have we seen that one before? And could you believe it when the two of them actually stopped to get gas? I mean, really. Gas. Lord spare from movies with gas stations. When they go to visit her parents, they live in a house, with brick and mortar and carpeting and all that stuff we've seen a million times. They even have a lawn! And the sky above them is blue! And the whole family goes to eat in a restaurant! Cliches, cliches, cliches, piled one of top of the other...