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MOVIES / ON DVD / TRANSAMERICA
Transamerica

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Transamerica (2005)

76%
100%
87%
N/A
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76 %
Reviews Counted: 132 Fresh: 100  Rotten:32 Average Rating: 6.7/10
 
Consensus: A terrific performance by Felicity Huffman carries this unconventional but touching transgender road movie. A terrific performance by Felicity Huffman carries this unconventional but touching transgender road movie. more
 
Rated: 15
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Theatrical Release: 24-03-2006
Synopsis:
Felicity Huffman leaves the glamor of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES behind and makes a surprising diversion with this offbeat film. Playing an uptight male-to-female transsexual named Sabrina "Bree" Osbourne (née Stanley), Huffman gives a remarkable performance. Readying herself for the... [More]
Felicity Huffman leaves the glamor of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES behind and makes a surprising diversion with this offbeat film. Playing an uptight male-to-female transsexual named Sabrina "Bree" Osbourne (née Stanley), Huffman gives a remarkable performance. Readying herself for the final snip that will make her womanly transformation complete, Bree's life takes a sudden turn when she receives a phone call from New York. Her son, Toby (Kevin Zegers), has been jailed, and Bree needs to post bail for him. The only problem is, Bree didn't know she had a son, but her therapist refuses to give her written permission to have the final part of her sex-change operation if she doesn't go, so Bree heads east from her California home. Thinking Bree is a Christian missionary, gay hustler Toby informs her of his intention to become a porn star on the west coast, which brings out plenty of motherly instincts in the worried cross-gender father. So the two take a road trip back west, with Bree unable to tell Toby the truths about who she is and what she once was. Writer/director Duncan Tucker gets the balance between comedy and drama just right as he gently squeezes Bree's various revelations to Toby onto the screen. But it's Huffman who really shines, with her vocal inflections, makeup, and acting skills perfectly combining to give a convincing performance as the ultraconservative Bree. Tucker doesn't focus too much on Bree's gender-hopping, instead crafting an emotional portrait of a highly dysfunctional family, while constantly dragging his audience back from the brink by weaving a killer laugh-out-loud line into the plot. A fine supporting cast--in particular Fionnula Flanagan (THE OTHERS) as Bree's hilariously overbearing mother--helps to deflect from the film's low-budget origins, with pithy dialogue and energetic performances combining to make TRANSAMERICA a wonderfully satisfying treat. [Less]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Felicity Huffman, Fionnula Flanagan, Kevin Zegers, Graham Greene, Burt Young

Director: Duncan Tucker
Producer: Rene Bastin, Linda Moran, Sebastian Dungan
Screenwriter: Duncan Tucker
Composer: David Mansfield

DVD Info

Release:

Nov 5, 2007

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Keep Case
  • Widescreen

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
  • Closed Caption - English
  • Subtitles - Spanish - Optional

Additional Release Material:

  • Bonus Footage - 1. Behind the Scenes of the making of the music video
  • Music Video - 1. DOLLY PARTON - "Travelin' Through"

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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N/R

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01/27/07 03:35 AM
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
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09/28/06 03:15 AM
Sight and Sound
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06/24/06 03:20 AM
Time Out
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04/01/06 03:23 AM
Empire Magazine
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04/01/06 03:23 AM
Joe Utichi
FilmFocus
N/R

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04/01/06 03:23 AM
Philip French
Observer [UK]
N/R

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03/14/06 03:15 AM
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Huffman gives it her all, transforming her physicality and her voice and revealing a character whose lifetime of pain and heartache is present in every gesture.

Full Review | Comment
03/09/06 03:16 AM
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
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An unnerving honestly infuses this film, from its near-documentary visual style to the gritty truthfulness of the performances.

Full Review | Comment
12/02/05 12:58 AM
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
Ratings Image

Tucker's screenplay is sharp but also sensitive, so the ample good humour never drifts into high camp (apart from the scenes with Bree's mother - and SHE is straight).

Full Review | Comment
08/10/07 11:57 AM
Anton Bitel
Eye for Film
Ratings Image

Comfort food for a comfortable audience, with the TV-familiar Huffman reassuring viewers that she's really a real woman underneath that unflattering make-up.

Full Review | Comment
08/05/07 08:42 PM
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com
Ratings Image

A big part of the movie's success is Huffman's irresistible and remarkable performance as Bree, a character we identify with rather than feel alienated by.

Full Review | Comment
07/10/07 02:14 PM
Felix Gonzalez Jr.
DVD Review
Ratings Image

A well-tuned vehicle.

Full Review | Comment
03/01/07 03:20 AM
Doris Toumarkine
Film Journal International
N/R

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Full Review | Comment
01/19/07 03:16 AM
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve
Ratings Image

La sorprendente composición de Felicity Huffman es el principal atractivo de esta road movie agridulce.

Full Review | Comment
11/06/06 08:42 PM
Enrique Buchichio
Uruguay Total
N/R

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Full Review | Comment
05/12/06 03:15 AM
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review
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(Huffman's) performance is one of those rare pieces of acting that actually deserves to be labeled a tour de force.

Full Review | Comment
04/28/06 02:24 AM
James Sanford
Kalamazoo Gazette
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Too clumsily handled to mean much.

Full Review | Comment
03/04/06 05:32 PM
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Ratings Image

Despite the dullness of the main character, there are enough other interesting characters and plot developments to make the story compelling.

Full Review | Comment
03/04/06 11:03 AM
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope
Ratings Image

Huffman makes Transamerica worth seeing.

Full Review | Comment
03/03/06 09:41 AM
John Wirt
Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Related Forums

REEL_REVIEWER
TRANSAMERICA is the first gender-reassignment road movie to show surgical results!?!
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TRANSAMERICA is the first gender-reassignment road movie to show surgical results!?!
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REEL_REVIEWER
TRANSAMERICA is the first gender-reassignment road movie to show surgical results!?!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 12/7/06


REEL_REVIEWER
TRANSAMERICA is the first gender-reassignment road movie to show surgical results!?!
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