FELICITY HUFFMAN – HERE COMES OSCAR!

Posted by JOpinionated on October 10, 2005 in Film | 0 comments

Yesterday I saw an early screening of Felicity Huffman in Transamerica at the Mill Valley Film Festival. Prior to the film, Huffman was interviewed onstage by a local film critic, and I was pleasantly surprised at how down-to-earth, tiny and funny she is. This is the kind of film that needs to be seen; the kind of film that you need to tell your friends about because it is going to be released in limited markets and on few screens in December. Although Huffman’s character is a (pre-op) male-to-female transsexual, the movie is first and foremost about family, and is NOT an ‘issue’ film. Huffman gives the performance of her career as Sabrina Osborne, a character (thankfully) ten thousand miles away from Lynette on Desperate Housewives.  Her physical transformation was so incredible that I was convinced they’d found a man resembling her for the first few scenes of the film. Without a doubt, if this movie receives even an inkling of the critical acclaim and proper marketing it deserves, Huffman should be a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination. Note: this is the very first non-Miramax film to be acquired by The Weinstein brothers, who are distributing it (along with IFC Films). Given their reputation for aggressive campaigning during award season, perhaps this little indie treasure has a chance.