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Felicity Huffman—who made the film before Desperate Housewives—plays Bree, a transgender on the verge of a complete sex change. She only needs one final operation before her transformation is complete. She lives in the slums of Los Angeles and makes her living waitressing and telemarketing from home. One day, she gets a phone call from a boy claiming to be her son. It slowly dawns on Bree that her one and only sexual encounter 17 years ago has finally caught up with her.

The boy, Toby (Kevin Zegers), has been arrested for shoplifting a frog and for holding drugs. At first, Bree ignores the situation, but her therapist (Elizabeth Pena) insists that Bree confront her past before going ahead with the operation. Bree travels to New York to bail Toby out, but rather than tell Toby the truth, Bree pretends to be a Christian missionary out to reform poor Toby. We know that eventually Bree will tell Toby the truth, but when?

The film has all the common elements for a road movie: the fights, the detours involving the characters’ past, the losing of the car and money, sleeping outdoors and, of course, the bond that eventually develops, crumbles and mends. The compelling premise is what keeps the movie feeling somewhat new. Writer-director Duncan Tucker also doesn’t shy away from exploring the situation on a more tragic level. Toby is a gay hustler who is not shy about his exploits and even comes on to Bree early on in their journey together.

Most people when talking about this movie will be talking about Felicity Huffman’s extraordinary performance. The casting of a woman in this role rather than a man is a curious choice on its own. Tucker has said that he wanted a woman because it would help depict this character closer to the end of a long journey and moving forward than one in a state of awkwardness and confusion. Huffman disappears into the role and adopts a low-octave voice that sounds neither too manly nor too feminine. She portrays Bree as a vulnerable, fiercely independent and charming character rather than a one-note caricature that could have easily dominated the movie. Credit should also go to Kevin Zegers, who hits all the right notes and plays Toby with a street-smart sensibility, but also with the right amount of youthful naiveté.

This is Tucker’s first feature-length film and it’s clear that he has more interest in his actors than in making a name for himself. The movie is shot with mostly hand-held cameras and is never intrusive or over-stylized. He lets his actors breathe and inhabit the scenery on their own terms. Though the movie veers into sitcom-level humor towards the end when Bree confronts her own family, Tucker’s soft approach to the material remains appropriate without once teetering on melodrama.

It’s a good start for all involved. Though Huffman already has a high-profile claim to fame, this performance represents a startling career move that will no doubt benefit everyone (Tucker, Huffman, the Weinsteins) come award season. Like the Road Movie genre, the Indie Film Underdog story has been told several times, but when the movie works on its own terms, as this one does, the story is worth telling again anyway.

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originally posted: 10/14/05 03:24:18
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