'Tangerine' Is Neither the Best Nor Most Overrated Film of the Year

Had Monday off so caught an afternoon showing of "Tangerine." Having learned that expectations are the kiss of death for even the most worthwhile films, I arrived with almost no knowledge of what I was getting into, except for the fact that the film was about "tranny hookers in Los Angeles," was shot using iPhones and had garnered some critical praise.

The give-nothing-away synopsis is that the story centers around a transgender prostitute named Sin-Dee Rella, who gets released on Christmas Eve from a brief stint in prison and meets up fellow transgender prostitute galpal Alexandra at Donut Time on Santa Monica Boulevard. Alexandra informs Sin-Dee Rella that Chester, her boyfriend/pimp, has been cheating on her with a white cisgender woman. Sin-Dee becomes enraged, and begins a (wo)manhunt for Chester and Dinah, the "fish" he has been sleeping with.

The film is neither a modern-indie classic nor a dud. It's an entertaining slice of life, about a marginalized segment of society that little attention is focused on. To overpraise it is to set yourself up for disappointment -- the use of an iPhone made for some disjointed and narrow camera angles, and the casting of amateurs is hit and miss as far as performances go -- just as dwelling on some of its shortcomings is to completely overlook the many things it does right -- how great that trans actors were finally cast to play trans roles, and that the film doesn't portray its characters as victims, even at their most vulnerable moments. Most important, though, is that the film is engaging.

I've come to realize that making a good film is (apparently) so difficult that I tend to judge them based on a few certain criteria.

Did it touch my emotions?
Did the plot avoid a a moment that jolts me out of believing the story, or makes me cringe and say, "God, I wish they hadn't done that"?
Did I enjoy myself?

"Tangerine" not only passed these tests -- I laughed throughout and its pivotal moments rang very true -- it has a B storyline that took it to another level I didn't see coming. "Tangerine" is no more the definitive story about transgenders than "The Godfather" is about Italian-Americans or "Brokeback Mountain" is about gay men. It's just one story about a diverse group of people -- and a compelling one at that.