(no subject)

[blue_lotus13]

Went to see "Transamerica" yesterday. At first, I wasn't sure about it. By the end of it, I was moved and even got teary. I'm glad that Felicity Huffman is getting the recognition for her acting in this film. She did an incredible job, and I didn't have any trouble believing that she was transgendered. I would love to hear how transgendered people felt about this film.

I should add that the person behind me fell asleep and was snoring loudly. It was so audible that I could hear others commenting on it. Finally, I turned around and gave him a sharp rap on the leg and said, "YOU'RE SNORING." He woke up and that was the end of that. I guess this was a bit rude on my part, but I'm sure that the other people in the theatre were relieved, as none of us had paid the money to listen to someone snoring.



At the beginning of the film, I was annoyed with both of the characters. However, I realize later that I was supposed to feel this way. The acting in this film is bang on. Both Felicity and Kevin Zegers, who played her son, were amazing. His performance reminded me of a young Leonardo or Jared Leto when he was younger and could still sort of act.

I think I was a bit in love with Graham Greene's character as well. I also loved that this was a spin on a road-trip movie with a new theme.

Did anyone else catch the Simpsons' reference? I was so surprised by this that I laughed out loud.

There were still some plot points that I saw coming a mile away, or that I felt weren't quite right. If there were any faults with this movie, they were faults with the plot and the script, and not with the actors. Ultimately, this was a story about accepting people for who they are, and about family. I found myself thinking about my aunt, who gave her baby up for adoption and was reunited with him when he was an adult.

I hope Felicity wins.

Comments

[sadie6.livejournal.com]

I turned around and gave him a sharp rap on the leg and said, "YOU'RE SNORING."

That's awesome!

[sarrabellum.livejournal.com]

I have a friend who just underwent gender reassignment surgery, and she saw Transamerica last week. I'm anxious to hear what she thought about it. I haven't seen it yet.

[(Anonymous)]

yes i thought she did an excellent job too! What was the Simpsons reference?! It was a simple movie, I felt, about a very complicated issue. It was tender and sweet and yes, a cool twist on the all-American road movie...

-hotlunch

[blue-lotus.livejournal.com]

The Simpsons quote was from the guy in the car, "I'm a level 4 vegan. I don't eat anything that casts a shadow."

This is from the Simpsons episode where Lisa becomes vegetarian. It's one of my favourite episodes.

[matt79.livejournal.com]

I loved it. She did a really good job of portraying a transwoman, albeit a weird one. (Not all transwomen listen to classical music and dress like librarians. Or have a wardrobe that's entirely pink. Honest.)

The biggest quibble that my trans friends and I seem to have with it is that she portrays a transwomen in early transition, which she is not. She's in what most would consider to be late transition, one week before sex reassignment surgery. Usually by the time a person has been living as a woman for as long as it takes to qualify for surgery, they're considerably less awkward than Bri is. Her movements would be more natural looking after such a long length of time, and she would be unlikely to need to cover her neck all the time (since she's already had the surgery to remove her adam's apple).

It's a small quibble, really, and one that non-trans folk probably wouldn't even pick up on.

[blue-lotus.livejournal.com]

I liked how they described what she'd had done in such a non-intrusive way, at the very beginning. It made it better for the audience.

I actually thought that she seemed sort of exaggerated too, but felt that her character made more sense after we'd been to see her parents.

I also liked when the mtf said, "We walk among you" at the party. That was brilliant.