Transamerica

"Bree, a pre-operative, male-to-female transsexual, holds down two jobs and saves every penny so that she can pay for one last operation that will make her a woman at last. One day, however, she receives a strange phone call. It appears that on the other side is Toby, apparently her son, who must be the product of a somewhat clumsy sexual encounter years ago when she was a man. He stays in New York, incarcerated. Bree flies from Los Angeles to New York in order to get the boy out of jail. At first she is reluctant to do so, but her therapist convinces her to face up to her past. The boy is handed over to her without a word of explanation and Toby believes the woman to be some Christian missionary determined to convert reprobates to Jesus; Bree sees no reason to clear up the misunderstanding. However, she finds out that the boy just wants to escape from her and hitchhike to Los Angeles. She persuades him to accompany her back to the west coast, secretly planning to leave him at his stepfather's along the way. Toby is happy to take her up on her offer." Summary written by Shemek on imdb

I watched this movie last night. Felicity Huffman, of the Desperate Housewives fame, already with SAG and Emmy Awards for her work on that show, shatters the image of the series-actor, making another outstanding performance in Transamerica. Although Reese Witherspoon is said to be the most likeable to win the Oscar, I'll be rooting for Huffman. She did win the Golden Globe for this movie.

Along the film, with all the situations she had to go through physically and mentally, I could totally connect with her character and feel Bree's pain. To tell you the truth, it was excruciating at some point. I rarely break a tear in movies, but I cried rivers at one particular scene.

Not saying that Bree as a character is likeable and an all around good person, she is sneaky and secretive around her son on purpose and puts her own ideals above everything else. She's selfish alright, but when she meets her parents at one point in the movie, you feel how much rejection a person like Bree has suffered through the years.

The movie has been nominated for 2 Oscars, one for Huffman as a Leading Actress, the other for Dolly Parton's song "Travelin' Thru" and has gathered another 10 wins & 9 nominations!

One tagline says it all: "Life is a journey. Bring an open mind." Do so and enjoy a great performance in a low budget road movie about love, rejection and finding one's true self.