To put my perspective of this film into focus, I need to begin by narrating an encounter I once had in the distant past. I met a lady by the name of Jeannie at a ‘dinner’ party hosted by a barman who worked at the now defunct Options Nightclub in Spring Hill. At the age of 17, I was petrified but intensely curious as I was told by my socialite companion that she was a ‘pre-op tranny’ (a terribly awkward introduction). Jeannie must have sensed the trepidation in me, for she went to great lengths to make me feel more comfortable at this piss-up than the host himself. The truth for me: I was more fucked up myself with life at the time than Jeannie was. For Jeannie illustrated to me the individual strength, nerve and maturity she had developed through her journey as she revealed her sensitive story.

Which brings me to the story of Transamerica. ‘This is the voice I want to use,’ Bree (Felicity Huffman) repeats to the Andrea James vocal coaching video as the film begins. Does Transamerica (as it appears to assert in the beginning sequence) give transgendered people a voice? I do plead ignorance as I do not have any close transgendered friends and I do not pretend to know their daily trauma. Although I have never viewed a film that treats the subject of transgendered people with much depth (and I am sure there must be some out there), I must admit that Transamerica aided to ameliorate my ignorance in many ways. Sure, Bernadette from Priscilla: Queen of the Desert may be a sista, but how did it serve to illuminate the darkness surrounding transgenderism? Bernice certainly did not pee as much as Bree did from taking her ‘vitamins’.

Transamerica mixes heart, humour and sensibility with the day to day issues that transgendered people face in regard to the logistics of transitioning from one sex to another. Fortunately, the film does not sermonise in your face, but gently and subtly informs the viewer of the reality of such situations. Certainly, there are many criticisms revolving around this – that it was not in-ya-face enough perhaps. Nevertheless, the regular Joe like me (lol) learns a few things. Did you know for example that, despite hormonal therapy and gender reassignment surgery, a person’s voice still remains essentially the same and as such may require ongoing vocal coaching to bend their speech?

Well, I didn’t! I found Toby (Kevin Zegers) rather intriguing as Bree’s unpremeditated son who, for the first time, speaks to his biological father from a lock-up in New York City just a few days prior to her final gender reassignment surgery. A 17 year old pornstar aspirant, ‘not that I’m like a bottom or anything’ twink hustling it for a measly forty or fifty dollars per ‘ASS-ignation’, Toby was a fascinating contrast of character to the squarish Bree. Though it was difficult to relate to Toby’s reactions in many situations, I did ultimately feel for him, his sordid history and pitiable conduct. Despite Bree’s understandable refusals, Toby’s attempts to ‘repay’ her help was quite stirring, for it was possibly the only way Toby knew how to express his gratitude.

Transamerica is essentially a feel good, road-trip flick. I guess it does for transgenders what the aforementioned Priscilla: Queen of the Desert and To Wong Foo: Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar did for drag queens. Thankfully though, the high camp of Priscilla and To Wong Foo does not really appear in Transamerica. Instead, the film is unglamorous yet impressive, conservative but enlightened, prosaic and yet still different. Transamerica is an honest film largely devoid of the outrageous and the quirky with which the tales of its trans-queer-related predecessors have utilised. It is something quite unexpected and it explains many things (including the revelation that ‘Lord of the Rings is gay’).

I give this film 3 and a half stars.