Absolutely Brilliant!

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

This film features an Oscar-nominated performance by Felicity Huffman and was produced by Huffman's husband, William H. Macy.A woman in the midst of her gender transition (man to woman) is denied permission for the ultimate surgery until she has come to terms with her son (Kevin Zegers), who has just rung up out of nowhere -- she didn't know she fathered a son during some youthful fling.She leaves California for the East Coast, to get her gorgeous young son out of jail, without telling him she's his father. They drive across America, meet people, have adventures, get on each other's nerves. Every time they get in to the car, some annoying country music plays. Very old fashioned.Although there is merit here, and the film is moderately interesting, the stereotypes are annoying. One is sympathetic to someone who is transitioning, but does the transition need to be to a woman who must dress in pink and says things like, "Don't talk like that to a lady!" There's lots of simpering going on. OK -- she has one good line: "I'm a transsexual, not a transvestite." For the son's part, he's been jailed for working as a rent boy. Does he have to seem so depressed when he turns a trick? And Huffman's mother, played by Fionnulla Flanagan, is the most awful mother stereotype of all, who can't deal with the fact that her son is becoming a woman until she suddenly does deal with it.This movie deals sympathetically with an important issue; but did they have to throw every cliché in the book at it? And the worst cliché of all: Lying is the worst sin. And if you are technically a male, never deny it, particularly to your son (although he doesn't know he's her son at that point, he just thinks she's some nice religious lady), because he'll get really, really upset, but not because of the male genitals, but because you lied to him.How does this all work out? Does it all work out? Watch and find out. Still I'd recommend it because it does try and deal with a complex subject that isn't that well understood now and probably much less so when this film was made over a decade ago.

Transamerica was a great movie that highlighted many obstacles that trans-gendered and transsexual people are faced with. One of the greatest fears of transsexual people is having their gender questioned and in Transamerica, Bree is faced with that exact fear. When Bree is sitting in a restaurant, she finds a little girl staring at her with a confused look on her face. Eventually the little girl asks Bree, "are you a boy or a girl?" Bree immediately breaks down and viewers are exposed to the true difficulties that transsexuals deal with on a day to day basis. Another issue that transsexuals deal with is the classification of their disorder. Gender dysmorphia is what trans-gendered people must be diagnosed with before any surgery procedures can take place. In Transamerica, Bree makes a comment to her doctor about how it is an amazing thing that plastic surgery is a cure for her disorder. The majority of trans-gendered people would most likely agree that surgery would be a cure for their disorder. Evidently, Bree does not agree that she has a mental disorder but simply believes her brain does not match her body. Unfortunately in today's society, trans-gendered people are considered to have a mental disorder and as many know, being known to having a mental disorder can be dire to one's life. Another issue that Bree has difficulties facing is her life as a man. Bree's past comes back to haunt her when she finds out that she has a son who has many troubles of his own. She struggles with coming to terms with the fact that her past can not be changed and that she has to deal with consequences of her actions while living life as a man. Clearly, trans-gendered people have a number of different issues that need to be dealt with in order to live happily. Once Bree is able to accept her past, she is able to find peace and happiness as a woman

As someone who's made the same journey as Bree I thought the movie was wonderful. My story has a lot in common with Bree's. Sure I have some issues with some of the technical details, but overall it does a great job. In this movie we have both a personal and family story combined. Bree is looking to complete her transition and at the same time becomes a parent to a child she never had.Many trans people are unhappy with how Bree is portrayed, but I think they forget who the target audience is. Hint: It's not us trans people. So the portrayal of Bree in the movie is not really linear. In essence they compact a couple years of transition down to a one week period in the movie. That's why Bree appears so insecure at the beginning and so rounded and polished at the end. It's a lesson to non-trans people in brief of how we change over the course of transition.I would also be remiss to not mention the great soundtrack. Particularly "Like A Rose" as Bree's being readied for surgery. They also did a great job with casting. Everyone seemed so right for the parts they played. And finally, I think Felicity Huffman was robbed, she should have won the Oscar for this film.

Felicity Huffman turns in one of the most complex and engaging performances I've seen in a long time as Sabrina "Bree" Osbourne, a transsexual who's down to her final stages of her final operation as she's about to lose the man jewels as she is finally rid of the horrid past she encountered when she was a man named Stanley. It's a misnomer to some who think that this is a goofy zany comedy film, or a preachy film about the trials and tribulations of becoming transsexual. It is a vulgar satire that uplifts the dramatic elements from the obstacles of the plot and the surprising outcomes that manifest at the principal elements as the movie progresses.In his directorial debut, Duncan Tucker has took on the classic road movie to a new direction that pits Bree and her re-acquaintance with the son she only once fathered. Toby is a juvenile homeless kid who is the biological son of the former Stanley who was once in a relationship with his recently deceased mother. Bree and Toby embark on a cross-country journey from New York to Los Angeles. Sure people might scoff by saying that this is another cross-country road movie. But if you look into the movie beyond the surface, it's really about a journey of a man trying to adapt into womanhood and the hardships it is in trying to adjust to the new life that has become of Bree.Tucker cleverly uses Bree's dreadful occupation as a telemarketer as a symbol of the obstacles Stanley faced during his quest of becoming a woman and Huffman utilizes her character's vulnerable traits and stiff posture. Sure it looked like open field for comical farce, but her acting it pitch perfect and takes her training and regiments very seriously which is all very believable. With the help from Jason Hayes (wig designer) we get to see the gradual physical molding of a man turn woman right before our very eyes and the fear of Bree returning to her old alter ego.The supporting cast backs Huffman up nicely. Young Kevin Zegers was accurate as the poor young confused misunderstood soul Toby who's oblivious that his father is now a mother and that Bree cowardly lied to Toby saying she was a church missionary when really she's really his biological father. Elizabeth Pena of "Lone Star" fame was sublime as Bree's strong-opinioned therapist. Graham Greene ("Dances With Wolves") was in top form as Bree's suitor Calvin Manygoats. And the scene-stealing comes from Bree's parents played by Bert Young and Fionnula Flanagan who are in perpetual denial over their son's life-rendering decision.Along with the parents, Carrie Preston as Bree's sister Sidney make the perfect dysfunctional family comedy foil as they easily go into Bree's self-loathing which is par for the course in most families who try to deal with problems. The film sporadically shifts into being overly sentimental tear-jerker and instead Tucker focuses more on the comedy elements and the absurd scenes that follow. This is a film worthy of its accolades and I'm sure you'll enjoy it too.