Normal

Ray (Tom Wilkinson) and Irma (Jessica Lange) are having a lovely 25th anniversary party until Ray passes out…and, not long after he comes to, announces his intention to undergo a sex change operation. Naturally, this wreaks havoc in their conservative Midwestern home, but writer/director Jane Anderson's HBO original movie based on her own play is less interested in the prejudice that greets Ray in the community and more fascinated in the changes in Ray's domestic life as Irma and 'tween daughter Patty (Hayden Panettiere) struggle to adapt. Anderson, who also penned The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom, has a natural sense of small town living and she perfectly captures insular Rotary clubs, churches, and shop-lined main streets that sharply contrast with Ray's bold decision. The movie's theatre roots show mostly in overly cutesy parallel structuring--Ray commits to becoming a woman on the same night as Patty has her first period; Ray's pre-surgery drug cocktails rival the drugs Irma's taking for menopause--and often teeters right on the edge of camp. But Wilkinson's fiercely dignified performance (no matter how awful he looks as a woman) carries the picture, along with Lange's carefully measured emotional arc and Panettiere's precocious composure. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include an audio commentary by writer-director Anderson. Bottom line: a small extras package for a small, but winning film.] (D. Fienberg)