Sunday, June 22, 2008

No Going Back

Author(s): Jamie Madden
Location: Melbourne, Australia

“No Going Back”

Written and Directed by Patrick Marber
Produced by Scott Rudin
Original Score by Alexandre Desplat

Principal Cast:

Ryan Gosling as Max/Maxine London
Jeffrey Wright as Tranzie
Sienna Miller as Julia London
Stockard Channing as Barbara London

Tagline: “To be or not to be a girl. That is the question”

Synopsis: Max (Ryan Gosling) was an unhappy married tax accountant who felt that his life wasn’t on track. By chance, Max runs into Tranzie (Jeffrey Wright), a poor, black, post-op prostitute who was the gay lover of his deceased brother. The accidental meeting becomes a weekly ritual that blossoms into an unimaginable friendship that changes both of their lives.

Tranzie discovers through Max, that she isn’t the happy post op transsexual that she thought she would be, and Max discovers that he is a really a woman living in a man’s body. As Max decides to become Maxine, he faces leaving his devastated wasp wife Julia (Sienna Miller) and shocking his rich, homophobic, racist mother Barbara (Stockard Channing). Meanwhile, Tranzie falls deeper and deeper into a pit of despair that is becoming more and more debilitating with each passing day, as she realizes that she wants to be a man again.

Along with Tranzie’s stuggle with regret, Maxine learns that despite being a woman, she still loves women, and is now a lesbian. Finding it difficult to cope with their regretted decisions of having sexual reassignment surgeries, Tranzie and Maxine find faith, and strength in their friendship, and discover a love that is beyond race, sex, social status or financial well-being, and come to the revelation that sometimes there is no going back.

What the press would say:

Some would call writer/director Patrick Marber’s latest movie a simple comedy/drama that is about the highs and lows of transgender people. However, “No Going Back” is so much more than this. It is a masterpiece that redefines the definition of complicated love, and the stereotypes of those who are involved in it. Both Ryan Gosling and Jeffrey Wright give the performances of their lives as two people who regret the decisions that they thought would free them of their discontentment in life. The on-screen chemistry is palpable, as both young, but established actors set the screen on fire, with a ferocity that hasn’t been seen since “Midnight Cowboy.” Patrick Marber’s strong feature film debut is supported with a strong script, also written by Marber, an amazing Oscar worthy score by the incomparable Alexandre Desplat and Oscar worthy performances for the leading roles, and the two supporting roles of Julia and Barbara London, played by Sienna Miller and Stockard Channing.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION (Drama categories for GG)

Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor (Gosling)
Best Supporting Actress (Miller, Channing)
Best Supporting Actor (Wright)
Best Original Screenplay
Best Original Score

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