3 Generations (2017)

Just perfect...

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Ray (Elle Fanning) wants to transition to being a boy. He's 16 and needs parental consent. His mother Maggie (Naomi Watts) has to track down his biological father. They live in NYC with Maggie's gay mother Dolly (Susan Sarandon) and her girlfriend Frances. Dolly would rather Ray be a lesbian.This is tackling an advanced edgy issue. It needs some better writing. The actors are top notch. The story needs to move but it's stuck in molasses. The dream girl probably needs more screen time and played by someone more charismatic. Quite frankly, she needs to be played by somebody like Elle. Ray's flailing attempts at romance is the most compelling story opportunity. There could be love triangles and unrequited love. The bio dad is not that compelling. Despite any weakness in writing, the actors carry the heavy load well especially Elle.

I watched this at home as a Netflix streaming movie. The story here involves a heated topic in many circles, the idea that a person may be born into a gender that is not appropriate for who they really are. Many on the "conservative" side, especially of they are also fundamental religious, firmly believe that if you are born a girl that is what you are supposed to be, learn to live with it, wanting to transition to a boy should never be an option. Many on the "liberal" side firmly believe that a person needs to be true to themselves and if that means switching genders then they are supportive. In addition there are whole bunches of people who don't care either way.This movie was written and directed by women, one of them is a formerly married mother of three. The core story involves a 16-yr-old girl who has felt for most of her life that she was really a boy born with female parts. She pilots her skateboard, she dresses like a boy, she cuts her hair short. And now as the story confronts us she is requesting her mom's permission to enter a program to "transition" to a boy. She wants to get a fresh start at a new school and as a boy. A wrinkle is that her dad, whom she has no contact for the last 10 years or so, has to sign the form also.Elle Fanning who otherwise is good at glamour type female roles is really good here as Ray, I found myself really believing this girl could want to be a boy. Her grandmom is played well by Susan Sarandon as Dolly, who supports her daughter, loves her and wants her to be happy, but just doesn't know how to react to her daughter's request. And there is Naomi Watts, good as the mom, Maggie, also mostly puzzled about how to react. In an interesting additional role Linda Emond is Frances, the lesbian partner of Dolly.I think there is no doubt about the leanings of those who made this movie, but regardless of a particular viewer's own leanings the movie can be appreciated for the story it tells, there is no running away and sticking heads in the sand, the transgender issue is here and it will stay and this movie gives an excellent view of the landscape.I enjoyed watching it, good movie.

After reading other reviews and thinking about the film, I realize just how complex it really is. On first glance the main subject appears to be the character Ray/Ramona played beautifully by Elle Fanning, but it's actually not. The subject or theme I believe is the three generations of women in one family, and the problems/identity issues each one is grappling with. Each character is representative, to an extent, of her own generation. The oldest generation represented by the character played by Susan Sarandon, Dodo, is an artsy, self-confident lesbian who has a life partner but is not married to her, presumably not only because they got together way before marriage was even an option, but because they had a "who needs a marriage certificate" attitude. Sarandon's character is the "man" in the family.Then there's the middle generation, represented by Naomi Watts'character. She also represents her generation, which encompasses some "me generation" qualities, including sleeping with her boyfriend's brother, and having a kind of laid-back almost apathetic personality. She is dominated both by her mother and her child.And then there's Elle Fanning's character, representing a youth of today for whom it's totally natural to believe she was born in the wrong gender and all she needs to do is take meds and have surgery and everything will be set right. S/he also has the very confident, almost arrogant mindset that she's entitled to say anything she thinks or feels to her parents, grandparents, and anyone else who's within earshot.In fact, when Dodo (Sarandon) says to Ray "It's time we have a man in the family" it like she's handing the reins over to him. This is part of the film's happy ending which is nice, if unrealistic. But I liked both the ending and the entire film as it is engaging, has excellent acting, and is visually very downtown New York.

Very disappointing despite very good acting performance from Fanning. Indeed, bunch of clichés, clumsy storyline, very week script make it hard to watch till the end. Furthermore, far from being and open-minded thoughtful movie about a very complex and sensitive issue, it turns out to be much to much right-minded in a very dull, binary way.