Felicity Huffman received many accolades for her incredible performance in TransAmerica, but an Oscar was not one of them. Looking back at the various nominees, it’s clear that Huffman should have won. But that’s how these things go, right? Reese Witherspoon was great in Walk the Line and was the popular favorite, and that’s probably because Johnny Cash had made quite a resurgence and the movie really struck a chord with people. But it doesn’t make it hurt any less. Huffman still should’ve won. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we continue our Transgender series with Duncan Tucker’s 2005 film TransAmerica.
We talk about Huffman and the brilliance of her performance, as well as what she had to do to ‘find her voice.’ We also talk about Kevin Zegers, Fionnula Flanagan, Graham Greene and more, looking at what they bring to the table. We discuss Tucker and how sadly he seems to be a one-hit wonder, even though he clearly demonstrated talent with his script and direction here. We look at the script and how some parts work better for us than others. And we touch on the soundtrack and how the country vibe throughout the film really grounded it for us.
It’s a film that has a lot to say about the life of being a transgender, about family, about loneliness and about finding your voice. We have a great time talking about it and consider this a must watch if for no other reason than to see Huffman’s incredible transformation. So check it out then tune in!
Film Sundries
- Watch this film: iTunes • Amazon
- Script Transcript
- Original theatrical trailer
- Original poster artwork
- Flickchart
- Letterboxd
Trailers of the Week
- Andy’s Trailer: American Fable — “This looks like a sibling story to Pan’s Labyrinth which I didn’t love but found endlessly fascinating. This may end up falling into the same camp. That’s not a bad thing.”
- Pete’s Trailer: Colossal — “Yeah, mixed reviews when it screened at Sundance just a few days ago. But you know what? This is a clever story of Kaiju monsters we’ve never heard and it explains everything: they’re all attached to Anne Hathaway.”
