Transamerica - 29th March 2006

I really enjoyed this. I simply cannot believe that Felicity Huffman did not receive an Oscar for her performance since it was pretty much perfect. It was so, so much better than Reese Witherspoon's in Walk the Line anyway.

I think it was a brave decision to cast a woman as a male to female transsexual. It is a tribute to Huffman's skills that after the first few moments we cease to think of the character as a woman playing a man who is becoming a woman and instead see her as a woman who used to be a man. I think it re-iterates the fluidity of the concept of gender, that these things are not just black and white.

From reading Cosmo Landesman's review of this film in the Sunday Times it seemed he had an issue with a transsexual being depicted as 'normal' and that the villain of the piece was not Bree but instead her conservative mother. I can't help but disagree with this; it is a most important part of the film that the viewer is able to emphasise fully with Bree, that we see her life from her perspective.

It managed to be illuminating, very funny and genuinely moving. Often all at the same time. It was hard not to feel for Bree as she navigated hostile reactions from everyone, especially her own family while trying to keep the secret from her son.

The ending was well-judged. Hardly 'happy-ever-after' but still upbeat and positive. There was also a healthy amount of gratuitous nudity, which is always a bonus. 8.