Jump to the good stuff: The Story | Some Thoughts | The Final Verdict
The Story:
Gun Hill Road is a drama about a father who comes home from prison to discover his wife is having an affair and his son is a transgender woman.
The film opens with Enrique (Esai Morales) beating up a prison inmate because he’s gay. The fight gets broken up and Enrique is confined for 90 days.
The film then fast forwards to the day Enrique gets out of prison and goes home to see his family. Once he comes home, he finds that both his wife and son, who is a transgender woman but appears masculine with her family, are distant. He slowly begins to wonder what’s going on, then discovers that his wife, Angela (Judy Reyes), was seeing someone while he was in prison. And when he discovers that his son is transgender, his homophobia kicks in.
Some Thoughts:
Although Enrique is the main character, Gun Hill Road is really about his transgender child, Vanessa (Harmony Santana), who Enrique calls Michael.
The film shows the many issues transgender people go through, with both supportive and non-supportive people. It also shows how those who are there to raise you up can often make poor decisions. For instance, Vanessa’s mother, Angela, is there for her daughter, but often refers to her as Michael and has no idea how to talk to Enrique about her. And because of this, it makes the situation even worse when he does find out.
The film shows Vanessa getting butt implants from an unlicensed surgeon, which is concerning. There’s also some discussion about breast implants and gender reassignment, but that’s as far as the film takes the topic.
There are some interesting situations between Vanessa and Chris (Tyrone Marshall Brown), who Vanessa thinks is her boyfriend. While it’s obvious that Chris is only interested in Vanessa for sex, her youth makes it easy to believe she wouldn’t realize it. And like the topic of plastic surgery, the subject of dating isn’t fully fleshed out.
Vanessa never talks to her mother about her personal life, nor does she discuss her home life with her friends. Because of this the two stories often feel separate. It’s a shame because the scenes between Vanessa and Enrique are heartbreaking.
While writer/director Rashaad Ernesto Green has compassion for his characters, he doesn’t delve deep enough into the topic to make this film stand apart from any other movie about growing up transgender.
The Final Verdict:
Gun Hill Road has its heart in the right place but has nothing new to say about growing up transgender in a dysfunctional environment.
If you’re looking for movies with transgender themes, I would suggest Mutt, Port Authority, or Runs in the Family.
