So, today I decided to watch Transamerica. It’s an interesting little flick staring Felicity Huffman and Kevin Zegers.
So basically, Bree (Huffman) is a male to female transsexual, and she is a week away from going under the knife and having her gender change surgery. But, as the gods will, she gets a phone call – her son is in jail. At first she balks, saying that she doesn’t have one, but eventually comes to accept that yeah, it’s possible. After a talk with her therapist, who refuses to give the OK to the doctor until after Bree has met with the boy, Bree heads across the country to New York City, where she bails Toby (Zegers) out of jail. For a buck. Big bail, boy.
Now, Toby has some problems. He’s into drugs (no, wait, he was “holding” them for a friend) and has a bit of a smoking problem. And his mom is dead – committed suicide. But Bree, pretending to be a churchgoer from the Church of the Potential Father (haha) decides to help Toby out. She’s going to take him with her back to LA, where he can start a new life.
During the way, they go to his hometown, where we get to meet his step-father (played by Raynor Scheine) where we get a gander at WHY Toby is so fucked up. Turns out, his step dad abused him, and that’s why Toby ran away.
Over the course of the movie, we get to see the unlikely duo face a carjacking, paid sex in the restaurant, and Bree flirting with a Native American. And all through this, Toby has no idea that he’s riding across the country with his biological dad.
The movie is an excellent look at a building relationship between the two, and how little things like transsexuality don’t always matter. When Toby finds out, yeah, he’s a jerk, but he eventually gets over it. There is a scene towards the end that is just O_O because we know stuff that he doesn’t, and it just makes it almost a squicky moment.
For the pervs out there, there is plenty of nudity. One of our first scenes has Toby laying in a bed with his a pair of underwear on, and nothing else. Not to mention that the boy is a manwhore, and is apparently good at blowjobs. Hmm.
I went into the movie pretty leery, and I REALLY enjoyed it. Not for the faint of heart, but if you go into it with an open mind, you’ll come out quick pleased.
4 out of 5 stars, and you can pick it up on Amazon here. :)
