"Are you a boy or a girl?" asks a child in the now widely-acclaimed independent film, "Transamerica." Though it may seem to be a simple question, many transsexuals in America know that it doesn't always have a simple answer.
Directed by Duncan Tucker, "Transamerica" stars Felicity Huffman ("Desperate Housewives") as Bree - or Stanley - Osbourne, a pre-operative transsexual. In Bree, we meet a woman who has worked hard to rebuild her life and body. Take a walk in Bree's pumps for a day; first up is a voice-feminizing practice. Follow it up with a trip to the plastic surgeon to finalize the date for that final operation. Watch her sashay in her nearly-fashionable attire to just another day at work as a telemarketer.
But today, one of her last as a man, she finds out she may have another identity to contend with: father. Bree receives a call from Toby (Kevin Zegers), a rough kid fresh out of juvie who phones looking for his father, Stanley Osbourne. Bree is not Stanley Osbourne anymore; she has no other choice but to tell the troubled teen to go find someone else willing to help him. However, she is later forced by her therapist to accept her responsibility as a father and go and help her son - a necessary step on her journey to, well, womanhood.
So Bree bails out her son and embarks on Hollywood's favorite clich?©, the awkward father-son road trip, made believable by the incredible acting and chemistry of Huffman and Zegers. The chemistry between the two serves them well in the characters' necessary awkward times and the moments of deeper emotional connection.
Huffman admirably takes on the challenge of a role very different from her frenzied, pill-popping career mom on "Desperate Housewives." She won the 2006 Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Film Drama for this portrayal, with good reason. Huffman provides her character with a voice and passion that make the story authentic.
Kevin Zegers, who viewers may remember for his early role in the Disney film "Air Bud" (1997), brings a childish fear to his role as Toby. His pitch-perfect emotions in each scene create genuine teenage angst. Toby is on a journey not only to make it cross-country, but also to find someone to care for him. Having created a fantasy about who his father is and how his life will be, he is a teen like any other.
The film boasts an excellent supporting cast as well, featuring Fionnula Flanagan and Burt Young as Bree's parents.
Filled with folk and country songs, the soundtrack warms the film and creates a feel-good sentiment without being overbearing. With songs like Heather Myles' "You're Gonna Love Me One Day," and another with a lyric that says "God made me for a reason," this well-made soundtrack complements the film's message.
The type of film that society needs, "Transamerica" explores an area of our culture that many people don't know or are afraid to find out about. "Transamerica" shows the world that being a transsexual need not be the taboo that it is.
