| | |  | Transamerican Love Story | Home » » » Transamerica (Widescreen Edition) | | | | | | | Description: | | Emmy® winner Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives) won the Best Actress (Drama) Golden Globe® Award for her "fiercely funny and deeply powerful" performance (Pete Hammond, Maxim) that is "thrilling to watch." (A.O. Scott, The New York Times) Huffman plays Bree Osbourne, a conservative transsexual woman, who learns she is the parent of a long-lost 17-year-old son (Kevin Zegers). The wheels of fortune take Bree and son on a cross-country adventure, including a memorable visit with Bree’s parents, that will change both of their lives. A funny, touching, completely original look at the modern American family, "TRANSAMERICA will leave you in a state of movie euphoria. It’s hilarious and deeply affecting." (Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal. "Felicity Huffman is incredible. One of the year’s most unforgettable performances." -Stephen Mooallem, Interview | | | Features: | |
• Widescreen
| | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Felicity Huffman, Kevin Zegers, Fionnula Flanagan, Andrea James, Danny Burstein | | Director:
| Duncan Tucker | | Format:
| Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen | | Language:
| English | | Subtitle:
| English, Spanish | | Number of Discs:
| 1 | | Studio:
| Weinstein Company | | Run Time:
| 103 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| May 23, 2006 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 148 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 148 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
84 of 91 found the following review helpful:
 A brilliant movie with an astounding lead performanceMar 11, 2006
By Robert W. Berg
"Rob"
"Transamerica" was easily the best film I have seen in months, and, furthermore, having just seen "Walk the Line" this week, I can say without any hesitation that the fact that Reese Witherspoon (who I loved in her role, as well) won the Oscar over Felicity Huffman is just wrong. Reese was adorable as June Carter, but Felicity Huffman's transformation in this film is astounding--the way she carries herself, the way she speaks, the subtle ways in which Bree becomes more and more comfortable in her body as the film progresses...it was a revelatory performance. There was not one moment where I didn't fully believe that she was a woman who used to look like a man learning how to be a woman in her new body. And she makes Bree so relatable, which is an enormous accomplishment considering transsexuality is a topic that makes so many people uncomfortable.
I'm not even going to get into complaining that this should have been nominated (and won) for Best Picture as well, because, really, what's the point? But suffice it to say, it was brilliant, and also restrained. Although I am a fan of indie films, many of them do tend to have a pretentious streak, and this one did not. It was heartfelt, honest, funny, painful at times, and also short. Too short, in fact. I wanted to stay with these characters much longer. Btw, Kevin Zegers, who played her newfound son, gave a fantastic performance as well. It takes a great deal of talent to be paired with an actress of Felicity Huffman's skill and to not come across as inferior by comparison. He deserves just as much acclaim as she received. Even the screenplay was underrated. Many critics praised Huffman but denigrated the bulk of the film itself, and I could not disagree more with that, either. It's just a shame when such a great work at this is so completely unappreciated.
34 of 38 found the following review helpful:
A desperate housewife like you've never seen herDec 30, 2005
By Joseph Haschka
Felicity Huffman plays desperate housewife Lynette Scavo on the popular TV miniseries DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, which, though occasionally immensely entertaining, is also Desperately Silly. In TRANSAMERICA, Huffman has a Big Screen gig that should indisputably prove that she's an actress of considerable ability. The other desperate housewives, actresses Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross, Eva Longoria, and Nicolette Sheridan, can only stand back and envy.
Here, Huffman is Bree Osbourne, born Stanley, a California man on the verge of the very last stage of his transgender transference, i.e. genital surgery that will, as he puts it, convert his "outey" to an "inney". In every other way, Stanley/Bree already presents to society as a female. What has otherwise been a relatively smooth transition hits a bump when Bree discovers, and must bail out of a New York City jail, his 17-year old transient son, Toby (Kevin Zegers), conceived in a long-ago liaison with a since-deceased girlfriend. Bree's problem is how to get Toby back to the Golden State without revealing to the teenager their biological relationship and the former's genetic gender. What's a poor girl to do?
When the creators were sitting around the table discussing casting for this clever film, there had to have been some argument. Do they find a man to play a man morphing to a woman, or a woman to play a man morphing to a woman? Their choice of Huffman was inspired, and it pays off brilliantly. This is perhaps not surprising as the excellent actor William H. Macy is the movie's producer (and, also, Huffman's real-life hubby). Indeed, Felicity's performance is eminently Oscar-worthy, and will be a definite eye-opener to audiences that are only familiar with her DH persona. Also notable in brief supporting roles are Graham Greene as the Navaho rancher, Calvin Manygoats, who gives Bree and Toby a ride after their car is stolen in New Mexico, and Fionnula Flanagan as Bree's distraught and resentful Jewish mother.
On the surface, TRANSAMERICA is a four-star, insightful, poignant, and amusing look at the practical problems associated with transgender transition. Huffman's performance, the best I can recall by an actress since Charlize Theron's triumph in MONSTER, elevates it to five-star, must-see status.
10 of 10 found the following review helpful:
Stretching the concept of "non-traditional family."Mar 22, 2006
By Miles D. Moore
I imagine that James Dobson has ground his teeth down to the gums about Duncan Tucker's "Transamerica," and I only wish I'd been around to see it. Tucker deftly tests the limits of the idea of the non-traditional family as he tells the story of Bree, a pre-operative transsexual in L.A. who suddenly discovers that--in her previous life as Stanley--she fathered a son. She heads East to find that son, Toby, who is now a 17-year-old New York street hustler with ambitions of going West to become a gay porn actor. But just when you think John Waters and Divine are going to show up, Tucker turns the tables on us and transforms the story into a sweet, if somewhat skewed, road trip movie about how family members both harass and nurture each other. The trip is far from a joy ride: Toby has a major attitude problem (as well as a nascent drug problem), and Bree, obsessed with getting back to L.A. and her scheduled operation, tries to keep her true identity a secret. The ups and downs of their trip and its aftermath, however, keep the film funny, fresh, and above all moving. Felicity Huffman won a ton of awards and critical plaudits for her performance as Bree, and she deserved every one of them. The astonishingly handsome Kevin Zegers portrays Toby's confusion and anger with touching realism. There are also fine supporting performances from Elizabeth Pena, Burt Young, Carrie Preston, and especially from two of the all-time great character actors: Graham Greene, as a friendly Navajo rancher, and Fionnula Flanagan, as Bree's toxic smotherer of a mom. "Transamerica" contains a few missteps (I'd have to recount far too much of the plot to say what they were), but they are minor. On the whole, this is a road trip you'll be glad you took, with characters you'll be glad you met.
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
TransamericaMay 25, 2006
By Colleen Britton Casanova
I had heard a lot about this movie, and was fairly eager to see it. I just finished watching it, so, while it's still fresh in my mind, I thought I'd say something about it.
It's true - it's less about the transgender lifestyle, more about human conflict. I didn't go into it thinking, "Oh, this is that transgender movie," and I was hardly disappointed when it took another turn.
It's a real gem. I'm not going to go into the plot, but it was well-thought out, and always interesting. It's the bittersweet story of a woman struggling to find her identity, dealing with the past of the man called Stanley...
I hate to be too cliche, but... I laughed, I cried, and I loved every minute of it. It moved along at just the right pace, the story unfolding one piece at a time. Just a tremendous film.
30 of 38 found the following review helpful:
 They Meant Well But They Don't Get ItMar 28, 2006
By A real TS woman
"A real TS woman"
If I were not transsexual, I would probably have loved this movie. It's a wonderful story, well-told and well-acted. Unfortunately, the makers don't understand the subject.
Their conception of transsexuality is rooted in the false idea of "a man who wants to be a woman." What is hard to communicate is that a transsexual woman has never been a man. We are born with female brains. All of our lives, our consciousness and emotions are those of a woman. We don't know what it is to be men, because we have never experienced the world as men.
We do know what it is like to pretend to be men, to try to fit in as men, to be treated as though we were men. But we never were.
Everything about the character of Bree screams out "man in a dress." Her clothing is a false stereotype of how we dress. Lots of pink, lots of over-the-top touches like the pink hat. I don't know a single transsexual woman who dresses like that. We dress like any other woman. We like blue jeans and comfortable clothes like any other woman.
Her mannerisms are the same. When she camps out with her son, she plays it like a stereotyped woman in a bad 1950's comedy. Again, I don't know a single TS woman who acts like that. I certainly don't act like that.
So if you want a film that shows what it's really like to be transsexual, this isn't the one. But if you want pure escapist entertainment, a fascinating tale of a growing relationship between parent and child, this film is an excellent choice.
See all 148 customer reviews on Amazon.com
| | |
|
