Review by Stephen Jones
If nothing else, TANGERINE achieves something I’ve been hoping to see for years; the film stars two transgendered characters, but the story isn’t ABOUT them being transgendered. Their gender identity isn’t their entire being, it doesn’t consume their entire lives, and isn’t the central inciting factor for the story told about them. That alone makes Sin-Dee and Alexandra two of the most realistic, fleshed out trans characters I’ve seen in a movie.
The movie as a whole could’ve done with a lot more of them. Both the characters and their actresses (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor, respectively) give their scenes a lot of energy and vibrancy, and it sort of dies off whenever they’re not on screen. Like whenever the cab driver’s story is the focus. I’m going to forget about the cab driver for a bit, but he takes up around half the film’s run time and contributes next to nothing to the other story. Without the cab driver, Sin-Dee and Alexandra’s stories could have been a little more fleshed out, given a little room to breathe and stretch, and this could have been a great movie.
It’s a prime example of something looking low budget but not cheap. This movie was shot on three iPhones. You can tell. It looks very low budget. But it doesn’t look cheap the way a “Jack and Jill” or a Syfy channel movie looks cheap. It’s a tough distinction to make in writing, but you could point to this movie and it’s really clear. Writer/director Sean Baker uses it stylistically, giving everything a really immediate energy. Although there are times it verges on Mumblecore, which some people like, but I generally don’t.
Where it really takes a turn for the positive, though, is the climax. Everything converges, the cab driver’s story actually gets interesting, and it starts to feel like Andrew Bujalski by way of early Pedro Almodovar. Or maybe a screwball comedy by Robert Altman. More and more characters enter the fray, everybody talking over everybody else, three or four different arguments all at once… the whole thing has a really madcap energy. It’s almost worth going to see the movie just for how fun this scene is.
This is one of those “just like real life” movies. It starts in medias res and lacks any real resolution. Just a 12 or so hour period with these characters. Like you’re following them around recording the crazy stuff they say and do on your phone. That sort of vibe can be really polarizing, but I was a little more receptive to this than others along the same lines. Even if I’m not a part of it, there’s definitely an audience for this movie, and that audience will probably love it.
3 of 5 Stars
TANGERINE opens in St. Louis August 7th exclusively at Landmark’s The Tivoli Theater
