

A Midwestern husband and father announces his plan to have a sex change operation.
Acting
Wilkinson's trembling bravery; Lange's devastation in real-time.
Writing
Anderson's dialogue finds poetry in hardware stores and church pews.
Direction
Restrained, almost cruel in its refusal to melodramatize.

Director
Jane Anderson
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made for HBO in 2003, this predates mainstream trans visibility by a decade; Anderson based it on her own play about her real neighbor.
Wilkinson spent weeks living as a woman off-set to prepare; Lange refused to meet him out of costume once filming began.