Bree now knows that Toby really is her son, but poses as a Christian caseworker specializing in converting sex workers to Jesus. Toby agrees to drive back with Bree to L.A. because he wants to go there to pursue a career in film. Bree doesn't yet know he means the pornographic kind.
This is where the bulk of the movie begins as it becomes an on-the-road film, and the dynamics of Toby's crack-snorting New York hustler personality fizzes with Bree's sophisticated conservatism.
Felicity Huffman's performance in this movie is absolutely phenomenal. For a woman to play a man who is becoming a woman in itself is incredible. She has to completely strip herself of her own mannerisms and even her own voice, to completely re-learn femininity. But beyond showmanship, every line delivery, every quip, every joke, every emotion, every reaction, every facial expression is truly wonderful. She carries this splendid film like Goliath making us laugh and cry all at once.
I went to see this film twice — first at the IFC theatre in Chelsea and then at AMC Empire 25 in Times Square, and both times the entire theater was erupting in laughter from beginning to end. Interestingly, the second time I went with a few friends of mine and afterwards my friend asked us on the subway, "Okay ... was it just me ... or did that actor really look like Lynette? (Huffman's character on Desperate Housewives)." She didn't even know Felicity Huffman was playing the lead! How incredible is that?
This is the kind of movie that makes you remember why art is sacred and beautiful. Once this story gets rolling you completely forget that you're watching a movie about a transgendered person or even that you're even really watching a movie. The story is so human and so natural that it just transcends the cinematic fourth wall.
Transamerica is a beautiful film with some wonderful comic writing and performances that touches you without being manipulative or contrived. Even if simple road movies aren't your thing, this movie is worth seeing if for nothing else to see Felicity Huffman's brilliant Oscar-nominated performance.
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