i'm not good at writing movie reviews

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

If you want to see a sanctimonious transsexual who's holier-than-thou without being religious, catch Transamerica. It's awesome. Even better, it's droll - one of those exquisite words that have lost their place in common parlance because so few things reach their esteemed standards anymore. Critics have panned it for being too melodramatic but I think that just makes it funnier.

It's one of those movies that always seems to be a step ahead of you but you know that if you listened a bit more closely, paid a bit more attention, you could get the joke too. I like it because it's clever without being pretentious.

Also, as Kel pointed out, it's overflowing with perversions and vices - pornography, prostitution, theft, incest, rape, child abuse, alcoholism, drugs, etc - and yet you come away from it thinking, what a wholesome and life-affirming (yeah it's a good description) movie that was. And in the midst of the mayhem that is other people's "normal" problems, transsexuality suddenly doesn't seem so screwed up anymore.

Of course the scene that spoke to me the most was when Felicity Huffman's character's mother says to her: "Do you know what I see when I look at you?I see a lost soul crying for help. This would never have happened if you had only come to church when you were little."

Ah, mothers.

 posted by zyn :: 12:48 AM :: 1 Comments :: permalink


--------------------------------------------------------::--------------------------------------------------------