Transamerica (2005)

It seems like a standard road-trip movie, with dysfunctional characters and identity crises. But I really enjoyed it. Transamerica follows Bree (Felicity Huffman), an aspiring transexual on a trip to achieve ‘closure’ with the sudden revelation of a son, before she can finally get her sex-change operation. Like just about everyone else, I was blown away by Felicity Huffman’s performance. Her glamorous Desperate Housewives persona does not distract but accentuates her brilliance in this movie. Watching before or after a familiarity with Housewives only delays your surprise to either the living-room or the cinema. But unlike Philip Seymour-Hoffman in Capote, Huffman doesn’t totally dominate the film. Perhaps it’s the different, more subtle, sympathetic character, but the entertaining script is allowed to shine through and her performance meshes well with the rest of the cast, particularly Kevin Zegers as her son, Toby. There’s some brilliant dialogue and wonderfully farcical scenes, especially toward the end when Bree confronts her parents. By the end I felt as emotionally confused as Bree or Toby, which, to me, is the mark of a good dysfunctional drama.

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