A Movie about Gender and Sexuality by Someone Who Seems to Know Nothing about the Topic
Wow, when I started this movie, I thought it was really unique and well done. The performance by the writer/director was astounding, especially his dual role as Guillaume and Mother. The audaciousness of having adult actors playing children somehow worked completely, and the movie began as a remarkable tale of a transgendered girl coping with knowing she was something other than what people saw.The fact that she tried to cope with her confusion by trying to be a gay man made total sense, but it was obviously not a correct fit. The logical place for the movie to go was her self-acceptance as a trans woman. Instead, the bizarre ending where HE figured out that he was heterosexual and masculine-presenting and only wanted to be a woman to show his mother he loved her was patently ridiculous. If you're going to make a movie about gender and sexuality, you might actually want to research the topics. The ending completely confused gender, sexuality and presentation.
I might be willing to say, "Well, he was confused by his mom's love and found out who he was in the end" if it hadn't been for the fact that someone who had spent his whole life presenting as effeminate and deriving satisfaction from playing female roles suddenly became this little masculine-presenting, stereotypically heterosexual man. All because he saw the "right woman." This kind of bullshit so spits in the face of people who are struggling because their gender does not conform to societal norms that I was left completely appalled and angry.
Guillaume Gallienne is extraordinarily talented as both performer and director. Someone must have told him he could be the next Rowan Atkinson because he has a long, pointless episode at a spa in the middle that seems to be a Mr. Bean sketch. It is mostly unfunny and completely derails the movie. Although it is preferable to unbelievable and offensive ending.
score 6/10
rabbitfish63 10 December 2014
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3139293/35880
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