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Tangerine
USA 2015
produced by Sean Baker, Karrie Cox, Marcus Cox, Darren Dean, Tsou Shih-Ching, Jay Duplass (executive), Mark Duplass (executive) for Duplass Brothers Productions, Through Films
directed by Sean Baker
starring Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian, Mickey O'Hagan, James Ransone, Alla Tumanian, Luiza Nersisyan, Arsen Grigoryan, Ian Edwards, Clu Gulager, Ana Foxx, Scott Krinsky, Chelcie Lynn, Tsou Shih-Ching, Josh Sussman, Julie Cummings, Jason Stuart, John Gulager, Richie Lillard, Angelique Banks, Katja Kassin, Andrew D. Scoggins, Genesis Green
written by Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Sin-Dee (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez), a transvestite prostitute, has been
released from jail on Christmas Eve and wants to hook up with her pimp
Chester (James Ransone) again, who she thinks she's in love with, but
learns from her best friend Alexandra (Mya Taylor), a transvestite
prostitute like her, that he has lately been mostly shagging Dinah (Mickey
O'Hagan) - the most shocking thing about whom is that she's not a
transvestite but an actual woman. So she crosses half of LA to first track
down first Dinah. Alexandra is torn between keeping her best friend from
doing something stupid or actually promote her own musical performance at
a club - for which she also still has to earn enough money, as she has to
pay for the venue. She decides for the latter, but Christmas Eve isn't a
good day for prostitutes - so Razmik (Karren Karagulian), the nice
Armenian cabby who really likes to suck off transvestites, seems like a
knight in shining armour. But Razmik has a wife and kid, and worst of all
mother-in-law at home who are bound to find out. Sin-Dee is one of
Alexandra's few friends who have shown up for her show, and she brings
Dinah - against Dinah's will, mind you, but Sin-Dee slowly warms up to
her, seeing too much of herself in her. That said, she still hasn't given
up the plan to track down Chester, and eventually, all the protagonists of
the film come together at a donut shop and things come to a head ... Tangerine
is a surprisingly lively and entertaining film, especially considering it
treats its transvestite leads without the usual gay-ish hysterics but
treats them as actual persons with depth and feeling, never putting their
being transvestites center stage (even if it's hard to ignore of course).
Plus, things float at an incredibly steady pace in this movie, there is
never a dull moment, humour and heart are all in the right places, with
neither being overpowering, and the colourful streets of LA are made
perfect use of. Totally worth your time!
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