Transamerica (Widescreen Edition)

Amazon.com

Felicity Huffman deserves every award she's received for her outstanding performance in Transamerica, a small but rich movie about Bree--formerly Stanley--a pre-operative male-to-female transexual awaiting gender-reassignment surgery who learns she has a wayward teenage son named Toby. When her therapist (Elizabeth Peña, Jacob's Ladder) strongarms Bree into facing her past, she bails Toby (Kevin Zegers, Dawn of the Dead) out of jail and they end up on a road trip across the country. Such a premise could feel forced, but the script and performances make it persuasive and natural. Bree wrestles with discomfort and compassion as she learns about Toby's own troubles, even while her own grow worse when she's forced to ask for help from her hostile parents (the superb Fionnula Flanagan, The Others, and Burt Young, Rocky). Transamerica doesn't push for any great catharsis, but instead slowly peels away the layers of Bree's defenses, laying bare her basic struggle for respect and a chance at happiness. In many ways it's a showy role, but Huffman (Desperate Housewives) keeps her acting simple, direct, and thoroughly compelling. --Bret Fetzer

Description

Emmy® winner Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives) won the Best Actress (Drama) Golden Globe® Award for her "fiercely funny and deeply powerful" performance (Pete Hammond, Maxim) that is "thrilling to watch." (A.O. Scott, The New York Times) Huffman plays Bree Osbourne, a conservative transsexual woman, who learns she is the parent of a long-lost 17-year-old son (Kevin Zegers). The wheels of fortune take Bree and son on a cross-country adventure, including a memorable visit with Bree's parents, that will change both of their lives. A funny, touching, completely original look at the modern American family, "TRANSAMERICA will leave you in a state of movie euphoria. It's hilarious and deeply affecting." (Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal. "Felicity Huffman is incredible. One of the year's most unforgettable performances." -Stephen Mooallem, Interview

Customer Reviews:

Funny, sad, a keeper.......2007-08-26

This is the sort of movie I'd watch again easily. I thoroughly enjoyed Felicity Huffman's performance as a transgender who discovers she has a son from a teenage one night stand. The movie has many memorable moments including some funny scenes. This was not a mainstream film, and I think that is probably due to the theme, but it really is very good. Felicity is a brilliant actor as is the young actor who plays her son. I am glad to own this movie, and will watch it again sometime soon. THe only negative I have is that it is a bit choppy in parts, perhaps the editing could have been done a little better. That aside, a great film!

Not Just an Acting Tour de Force.......2007-08-12

In trying to think of a phrase to describe this film, the first that comes to mind is "coming-of-age." This might seem like an odd descriptor, given that the protagonist is a full-grown adult - one who is, in fact, likely approaching middle age - and yet this film invites the audience to view not just the physical, but the emotional transformation of Bree.

To quickly some up the early plot points without giving anything away, Bree is a male to female transsexual who is a mere two weeks away from her final gender reassignment surgery. Suddenly one night, she receives a call from a boy, placed in a juvenile detention facility, looking for his father, Stanley, which just happens to have been Bree's name when she was living as a man. Bree's therapist encourages her to go see and learn about this son, as she must reconcile her future life as a woman with her past life as a man before she can be fully ready to transition.

What follows is a moving, and funny, tale as Bree bonds with her son and eventually learns to take responsibility for her past life and past actions. As we see Bree become more comfortable with herself as a woman, we also see her grow more confident, responsible, and loving. She grows to realize that, although her life as a woman is the life she wants to lead, it is not the secret to happiness, and that there are other things in life that are important.

Felicity Huffman deserves all the accolades she got for her part in this film, and Kevin Zegers as her son showed the perfect combination of childishness, rebelliousness, self-sufficiency, and vulnerability. The film is both emotional and funny, though the characters are never the butt of the jokes.

Were it not for a couple sequences that dragged on too long about two-thirds of the way through the film, I would have given it five stars. Nonetheless, it is well worth seeing.

N*a*s*t*y*.......2007-07-29

If you think TS's are funny or idiotic, then rejoice, your flick is here. If you are TS (or TG), then skip. I only made it as far as the line, "Look at my new va----!" then, delete.

Way better than I thought it would be.......2007-07-14

Despite a script that has everything but the kitchen sink thrown in, Transamerica still manages to pull off the impossible. On any given weekday, the characters in this film could be found on the Jerry Springer show and you would just be left shaking your head at the screen. However, the strong performance given not only by Hoffman but the entire cast successfully draws you into this strange story. I truely like this road trip much more than Little Miss Sunshine and am glad I took a chance in watching it. Highly Recommeded.

Huffmann shines!.......2007-06-30

Huffmann (the frumpy housewife on desperate housewives) shines as a gender challenged patient. See this movie for a Tour De France of acting!!!

Average customer rating:

Brilliant, story of mother love, sacrifice, and social class differences....
there are loving mothers and loving mothers...then there's Stella Dallas
Stella Dallas
Good Story -- Bad Acting
Is it a crime to have bad taste?

Stella Dallas
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck , John Boles , Anne Shirley , Barbara O'Neil , and Alan Hale
Director: King Vidor
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0006TPE0Q
Release Date: 2005-03-08

Amazon.com essential video

Barbara Stanwyck gave one of her inimitable and wonderfully enigmatic performances as a mill worker who marries her way into high society and soon experiences layers of frustration. Channeling her restlessness, she soon makes a positive though highly self-sacrificial decision on her daughter's behalf, and endures the agony of being replaced in her husband's life by an old, blue-blooded flame. King Vidor (The Crowd) directs with a fascinating sense of duality about Stanwyck's character: is her lower-caste vulgarity something to sneer at or something to applaud for the contrast she presents to the mannered upper classes? Stanwyck plays the riddle brilliantly, right down to the final moment of her character's weird self-satisfaction at being ostracized from her daughter's honeyed life. --Tom Keogh

Description

True heroines don't always save lives. Sometimes they're simply mothers, with an everlasting devotion to their children. Such is the case in Stella Dallas. Starring Barbara Stanwyck in an Academy AwardÂ(r)-nominated* performance that's "as courageous as it is fine" (The New York Times), this enduring classic is a "vivid and authentic cross-section of American life [full of] deeply moving emotional power" (The Hollywood Reporter)! Even after her marriage to well-bred Stephen Dallas (John Boles) ends, irrepressible Stella (Stanwyck) is determined to give their daughter (Anne Shirley) the life she never had. And when it comes down to her child's happiness versus her own, Stella's sacrifice is truly the epitome of bravery. *1937: Actress

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant, story of mother love, sacrifice, and social class differences...........2007-08-08

"Stella Dallas" is one of my favorite all-time, great classic films from the studios of Samuel Goldwyn. Barbara Stanwyck claimed in a future interview that S.D. was her favorite role...I most certainly agree. Aside from her roles in "Sorry, Wrong Number," "Double Idemnity," and even her Victoria Barkley role on T.V.'s "The Big Valley," Stanwyck made her strong impression on Depression era audiences with her portrayal of mill worker turned social climber S.D., making her all, so colorful and full of life. When she realizes that she is standing in the way of daughter Laurel's (Anne Shirley) happiness, she hears the gossip from Laurel's friends on a train ride and decides to let go of her only child so that she can seek her own happiiness with her upper-class boyfriend (Tim Holt); meanwhile, Stella connects with old blue-blooded pal Ed Munn (Alan Hale, Sr.), whose hard drinking and horse playing only Stella can relate to more than ex-husband Stephen Dallas (John Boles), Harvard-educated industrialist. Also, Anne Shirley's performance, which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress, was just as glittering as co-star Barbara Stanwyck's (Best Actress Nominee). The chemistry between the two was never better. It's timeless. As is this film, that spawned a long-running radio series. It put the "soap" in soap opera.

there are loving mothers and loving mothers...then there's Stella Dallas.......2007-06-29

STELLA DALLAS, based on the novel by Olive Higgins Prouty and directed with great sensitivity by King Vidor, gave Barbara Stanwyck her very first Academy Award nomination in 1937. Her performance, as the mother who'll sacrifice everything for her daughter, glues the entire film together.

Stella Martin (Barbara Stanwyck) is a girl from working-class roots who calculatingly pursues Stephen Dallas (John Boles), from one of the wealthiest families. Once married, their relationship is slowly destroyed thanks to Stella's shameless social-climbing antics. Stephen leaves and Stella invests all of her love and devotion to their daughter Laurel (played for the bulk of the movie by Anne Shirley).

As time goes by, Stella realises that her working-class background, which she has tried so desperately to escape from, will be the only thing to stop Laurel from having a good life. Stella's most selfless sacrifice will be one that all parents will understand...

STELLA DALLAS boasts one of Barbara Stanwyck's most subtle and moving performances. The character of Stella is very much an enigma, with a duality that must has been very challenging to play. Stanwyck deservedly got her very first Oscar nomination for the role in 1937. John Boles, Barbara O'Neil and Alan Hale are all very memorable here. Anne Shirley (best-remembered from the 1933 version of "Anne of Green Gables") is a charming presence as Laurel--the role was originally earmarked for Frances Farmer. Watch out for Marjorie Main playing Stella's mother in the early scenes.

STELLA DALLAS is a great "weepie" from the classic years of Hollywood, one that can sit comfortably on the shelf next to "Mildred Pierce" and "Imitation of Life". The DVD features a beautiful print. (Single-sided, single-layer disc).

Stella Dallas.......2007-04-10

The disc was very good no glitches
the movie is a story of a lady who married a dream only to find it was not what she really wanted, and resulted in a long separation and ultimately ending in divorce. A daughter born of that marriage became the most important, and most loved thing in her life and because of that love she gave up her daughter to the girls father that the daughter may have lived the life of the mothers dreams. A very touching story of a mothers love and sacrifice.

Good Story -- Bad Acting.......2007-01-13

I liked the story line, but hated some of the acting. The daughter was just too bubbly, too sweet, and totally unbelievable. The actress that played Helen Morrison was even worse. In one scene when Stella is telling Helen her plan for the daughter, Helen just stares at her making weird faces and grasping her strangely. If it hadn't been so disturbing, it would have been hilarious. On the other hand Stanwyck gave an excellent performance as well as Alan Hale.

Is it a crime to have bad taste?.......2006-07-26

After reading the DVD cover, I was prepared for another "Veda" in MILDRED PIERCE. However, the grown-up Laurel Dallas (Anne Shirley) was quite the opposite -- compassionate and self-sacrificing. In fact, there was a competition for virtues between mother and daughter.

Stella Martin Dallas (Barbara Stanwyck) grew up in an underprivileged neighborhood. Her vehicle for rising above her social status is admired factory executive Stephen Dallas (John Boles). In one of the few nice garments she's ever seen in, she wins his affection and they wed. They have a daughter and Stephen suffers a financial reversal. A long marital separation follows.

In speech and demeanor, Stella never really transcends her humble beginnings. Though raising Laurel alone, she sews beautiful clothes for her daughter and throws parties to please her. Nevertheless, personal grooming and choice of friends leaves something to be desired. People begin to ostracize her and her daughter -- leading to some lonely parties.

As Laurel grows up, she visits her father, who by now is seeing a widow who has inherited a fortune. There is a stark contrast between the palatial estate there and the small apartment back home. During Daddy excursions, Laurel is exposed to well-bred friends and fun activities.

It becomes apparent to Stella that, she herself is an obstacle to Laurel's future happiness and success. Despite mutual devotion, Stella makes the ultimate sacrifice to give her daughter the best life.

Stanwyck demonstrates remarkable versatility in her role as STELLA DALLAS. She not only melds genuine affection and crass, but despite her beauty must appear to age poorly -- gaining weight and wearing garish clothing. At times you don't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for her. Shirley conveys a surreal devotion lacking from any child with which I grew up. Cloth hankerchief recommended.

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A Bit of a Mess But Interesting
Imperfect, yet deeply poignant
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
"But we are all drifting Mrs. Stone"
Great Talents Muddled

The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
Starring: Vivien Leigh , Warren Beatty , Lotte Lenya , Coral Browne , and Jill St. John
Director: José Quintero
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000EBD9TO
Release Date: 2006-05-02

Amazon.com

Vivien Leigh, so stirringly memorable as Blanche in Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire, stars in this 1961 adaptation of Williams's only novella, giving a nuanced, slightly neurotic performance that is haunting and all the more tragic by its being one of the actress's last performances before her sad death at age 53. Leigh plays Karen Stone, a 50-ish theater actress whose comeback vehicle never gets off the ground; en route to Rome for a brief escape, she's devastated by the sudden death of her beloved husband. She decides to stay in Rome, and there, her loneliness takes root against the spectacular backdrop of the city. Lotte Lenya plays a viperous contessa who pimps young men to older rich ladies, and introduces the handsome Paolo (played with dissolute perfection--though his Italian accent is shaky--by Warren Beatty) to Mrs. Stone. Leigh's performance is unnervingly raw, though one wonders why a woman with a long, happy marriage and at least one very real friend (played by Coral Browne) should be doomed to such relentless loneliness--surely she and her hubby had some pals back in New York? But with Williams, you simply must go along for the ride, and the journey through the emotional dark spaces of Mrs. Stone's life is gripping. The location shots of the glorious, decaying beauty of Rome are fabulous, as are the costumes. Extras include a featurette, Mrs. Stone: Looking for Love in All the Dark Corners. --A.T. Hurley

Description

An ageing starlet is off to vacation in Rome with her husband when he suffers a fatal heart attack on the plane. Mrs. Stone stays in Rome where she leases a magnificent apartment with a view of the seven hills from the terrace. Soon, a contessa comes calling and introduces Mrs. Stone and a young man named Paola. A wary Mrs. Stone ultimately succumbs to Paolo's charms.

DVD Features:
Documentaries
Featurette:? New Featurette Mrs. Stone: Looking for Love in All the Dark Corners

Customer Reviews:

A Bit of a Mess But Interesting.......2007-05-14

This movie doesn't wear the years very well, but if you have the patience to get through the plodding pace, wooden acting and totally bizarre script, there is still something to think about. I'd definitely recommend listening to the interviews that come with the DVD, as they help you make more sense of the movie. Probably one of the most interesting aspects of the film for me was how it showed Warren Beatty rather true to life.

Imperfect, yet deeply poignant.......2006-12-04

The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone is a magnificent failure of a film: it addresses the themes of fear, self-loathing and the decay of age more sensitively than any other Hollywood film which springs to mind, but ultimately feels a bit cramped and over-done at times. Based on a Tennesee Williams novel, it tells the story of Karen Stone, an aging actress known for her light, comedic performances, who, after a failed turn in Shakespeare's As You Like It begins to fret that her career is over. She makes the decision to set off for Rome with her husband, who dies on the plane taking them there. She meets up with a handsome young money-hungry gigolo, played by an out-of-his-league Warren Beattie, whose terrible faux-Italian accent threatens to turn this film into camp. It contains one of Vivien Leigh's darkest and most autobiographical turns as the miserable Mrs. Stone, who shacks up with Beattie to try to bring some meaning to her life. She is as beautiful and sensitive here as she ever was. Two excellent performances by Lotte Lenya and Coral Browne help to bolster the film's quality. Lotte Lenya's lends a superb performance as the witch-like Contessa whose stable of handsome boys entertain the bored, wealthy American expatriates, both male and female. The always-engaging Coral Browne is brilliant as Karen's close friend, Meg, who attempts to help her and pull her out of the downward spiral of decay in which she is so clearly headed. A bonus featurette on the DVD discusses the troubled making of the film, it is particularly poignant in its discussions of the insecurities that Williams, Leigh and Beattie faced at the time of the film's creation.

The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone.......2006-07-25

I searched everywhere for this movie, before I contacted Amazon.com and found it, because to my mind, it exactly captures Tennessee Williams' story. Vivienne Leigh is fabulous as Mrs. Stone. She has exactly the right degree of world weariness and vulnerability, and of course even towards the the end of her career when this picture was made, she embodies my idea of glamour.

Warren Beatty is the ideal gigolo. His Italian accent may not be perfect, but I don't believe that anyone could have done it better. He looks just right, and of course he turned out in later life to be a great womaniser, so this role is almost type casting.

All in all it is a wonderful addition to my movie collection.
David Farquharson.

"But we are all drifting Mrs. Stone".......2006-05-06

The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone is a film about need and seduction and the fear of being all-alone in the world. Legendary New York stage actress Karen Stone (the legendary Vivian Leigh) is unhappy with her latest performance, and is even more distraught when the play turns out to be a flop. She decides to retire from acting, telling everyone she needs a holiday to take care of her ailing husband.

However, when he dies on board a jetliner on the way to Rome, she decides to stay in the City and book herself into a lavish rooftop apartment. She wonders the streets, drifting in a haze of expensive loneliness, wondering what to do with her life now that acting is over for her. She soon falls in with the Contessa (Lotte Lenya), a female pimp, and a sharp procuress of handsome young men for forlorn wealthy old widows.

The Contessa hooks her up with the young Paolo di Leo (Warren Beatty). The sexy Paolo thinks nothing of acquiring money out of rich, older women, and with the Contessa's encouragement, he wines and dines Karen. Karen, however, isn't your typical widow. At around fifty, she's is still very beautiful, although she worries about getting older, she's obviously enamored of Paolo and she's desperate for affection, but she's determined that Paolo's need for money will not triumph her need for love.

They eventually become lovers. Karen showers gifts upon Paolo and they take a trip to Tangier. The Contessa becomes furious that Paolo isn't "cutting her fifty-fifty on the deal." Karen also doesn't heed the warnings of her friend, journalist Meg (Coral Browne) that she has "a disease" that can't be fulfilled. When Paolo begins to make the movies on younger starlet Barbara Bingham (Jill St. John), Karen begins to see Paolo for what he really is.

Based in Tennessee Williams novella, Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone is full of his trademark themes of desperation and isolation of fearful people aching to connect. There's no doubt that Paolo is an attractive man, but he's also selfish, spoilt and petulant and he thinks nothing of two-timing Karen. Karen is an intelligent and intuitive woman, and she's well aware of Paolo's agenda, but it's as though she's observing life through a looking glass, and is ultimately seduced by the gigolo lifestyle.

Director Jos? Quintero bathes the movie soft hews of gold and orange and he makes the most of Rome's stunning surrounds. Vivien Leigh remains a rather downcast presence - she's plays Karen with a fascinating mixture of neurosis and foreboding, she knows the relationship with Paolo will probably lead nowhere but she just can't help herself.

When their romance starts to sour, she and her young and deceitful companion trade sharp words but there no extravagant theatrical exchanges. Likewise Beatty plays down the truculent Paolo - much has been made of his Italian accent, but I found it perfectly suitable, and he's totally convincing as a manipulative pretty-boy Italian gigolo.

The Romance of Mrs. Stone was probably pretty sensational when it was released in 1961; and it's moral ambiguities - paying for sex and high-class prostitution, quite shocking to some. The film as aged well, although it dances around the more intimate aspects of the relationship - there's only one short love scene, which fades to black - the film certainly does a good job of highlighting the trials and tribulations of poor lonely women with bags of money who find themselves at a loss, living in exotic places and desiring to connect with someone. Mike Leonard May 06.

Great Talents Muddled.......2006-05-01

This film is worth seeing because of the talents involved. Vivien Leigh continues her fictional autobiography on film, Scarlett in desperation became Blanche but found a rich husband who dies and she ends as the despondent Mrs. Stone, which somewhat mirrored Leigh's own troubled life, at least in trajectory. Leigh's mental problems and nymphomania bleed through brief moments in the performance and make it uncomfortable if real. Warren Beatty is physically blessed for the role of gigilo supreme (his own personal qualities bleed through as well) but his inability to play an Italian is so obvious the part should have been rewritten into Paul the American ex-pat. Lotte Lenya in her first screen role since Pabst's "Threepenny" in the early 30s is perfection as the Countess pimp. Her relationship with her pet is the most powerful in the film. She's worth having it for alone. Williams script is flawed by the pervasive Death Wish theme, there is no where to go with the story, it becomes a very intimate flat scandalous tabloid story (very much kin to "The Misfits"). Quintero, one of the great theater talents (personally responsible for the revival of Eugene O'Neill from oblivion), does not know how to shape a film and in particular the end, which should have power, hardly registers. When such great talents work together, it is worth seeing even if only to see where even they went wrong. If the others had worked with the focus and force of Lenya, this film would have been something much greater than it is.

Average customer rating:

Brilliant, story of mother love, sacrifice, and social class differences....
there are loving mothers and loving mothers...then there's Stella Dallas
Stella Dallas
Good Story -- Bad Acting
Is it a crime to have bad taste?

Stella Dallas
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck , John Boles , Anne Shirley , Barbara O'Neil , and Alan Hale
Director: King Vidor
Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: 6305236488
Release Date: 1999-01-26

Amazon.com essential video

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant, story of mother love, sacrifice, and social class differences...........2007-08-08

there are loving mothers and loving mothers...then there's Stella Dallas.......2007-06-29

Stella Dallas.......2007-04-10

Good Story -- Bad Acting.......2007-01-13

Is it a crime to have bad taste?.......2006-07-26

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