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Though
road movies are as integral to the history
of Hollywood as Huckleberry Finn is to
American literature, it’s probably a safe
bet that Transamerica is the first road
movie about a pre-op transsexual who learns
she fathered a son who’s now a street
hustler in New York. Mother/father and son’s
resultant cross-country journey includes as
many picaresque adventures as does Huck and
Jim’s journey along the Mississippi, though
this time the subtext (“Come back to the
raft, Huck honey”) is shouted loud and
proud. This is no Bing and Bob on the road;
this is Bree and Toby, with drugs and dicks
and tricks and johns. Notwithstanding the
superlative supporting cast (Burt Young and
Fionnula Flanagan as Bree’s hyper-manic
parents, Elizabeth Pena as her therapist,
and particularly Kevin Zegers as a very sexy
Toby), the movie is all about Felicity
Huffman. If you don’t know Huffman from
Desperate Housewives, if you haven’t seen
her in other films, then you’re probably
always going to remember her best as Bree.
This is the kind of performance which has
you leaning forward in your seat, the way
you might while sharing dinner with someone
so fascinating that you can’t entirely
relax. Huffman imbues Bree with an almost
oxymoronic fragile strength, her nervousness
camouflaging a resolute resilience. This
soon-to-be-complete woman is a survivor,
whether she’s traipsing along a back road in
espadrille wedgies or enduring her mother’s
tirades, and Huffman’s performance makes
sure you see the dignity in living proud for
whom you know yourself to be.
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