Transamerica (2005)

I've heard several people praise Huffman for her portrayal here, saying that they were fooled into believing this was a man who kind of looks like Felicity Huffman...yeah, right. I mean, she does a good job, but I couldn't forget for a second that this was a woman with whom I'm very familiar. Regardless, the concept of the character Bree (Felicity Huffman) is certainly an interesting one -- there's no flamboyance here, just a compulsion to be what she believes she MUST be: a conservative woman.

I saw this in a small independent theater and the audience was so PUMPED to love this, that they sounded like a sitcom laugh track. Bits that, at most, would result in a gentle smile under normal circumstances earned loud "harharhars" which stepped on the dialogue (even the filmmakers didn't know they were writing such funny stuff, apparently). Basically, I think this movie's succeeding on hype alone. Sure, Bree's interesting -- but the situation is forced. "I'll pretend I'm a church worker rather than this boy's father. Hey, let's fly to California together -- just a service of the church. No, let's buy this unproven crappy car with 200,000+ miles on it and drive it across the country instead. Oh no...car and cash have been stolen? I wish John Candy and his shower rings were here to save us! Oh -- he's dead? How about Charles Grodin and his money belt, then?" It's just so tired and the "comedy" is so mild as to be almost imperceptible.

There is a lovely segment when they meet a kind man who lets them stay the night and who gives them a ride the next morning. Bree and he have a beautiful, easy chemistry which, unfortunately, exposes the unnatural feel of the rest of the movie.

C+