At the start of the movie, Bree has let her fears marginalize herself. (Of course there's no telling what she went through prior to the first act.) But Bree seemingly has constructed a protective bubble around herself. She works as dishwasher (where she doesn't need to interact with anyone and the restaurants staff only speaks to her in Spanish, which she only marginly understands) and as a telemarketer, where she's just a voice on the phone. One reviewer asutely commented that her heavy make-up, which she shouldn't need any more after electrolysis, was a form of armor. (It's notable that as Bree comes out of her shell, the make-up becomes lighter.) While she makes a reference to having friends, there's no evidence that she has any -- the only person she ever calls for advice during the trip is her therapist. In interviews Huffman has said Bree's wardrobe is so bad in part because Bree does all her shopping via catalog, so she won't have to interact with sales people. As one reviewer said: "this heroine would just as soon not be watched, for fear of being truly seen." In short, by distancing herself from others, she's minimized the chance she can be hurt -- but also the chance that she can be loved.
By the end of the movie, she's learned not how to be a woman, but to be a multi-dimensional person. I think Huffman summed it up nicely in this interview:
I also liked how the movie touched on how transitioning isn't a magic bullet -- afterwards you're still "you." While the therapist refusing to sign Bree's letter to greenlight surgery is really just a McGuffin to get the plot rolling, there is a certain amount of plausibility to it. Not that Bree needs to bail out her son as a prequisite for GRS per se, rather her reaction of trying to sweep it under the rug indicates that she hadn't yet accepted that she wouldn't be able to leave her past behind."She's a freak," Huffman said of Bree fondly. "Not because she is transgender but because she's trying to fit herself into this image of what she thinks a woman is. She can't just let herself be who she is. Until the end. When she does, a little."
For those of us within the TG spectrum, there's more than few details in the film to quibble over. For example, if Bree is as broke as she's supposed to be, she'd be going to Thailand, not having her surgery done locally (although to me this was an acceptable bit of dramatic license, since it was necessary for a crucial scene). Likewise, it's dubious that Bree wouldn't know what a GG is -- although she's such a priss and so isolated that it wasn't entirely impossible to me, but it's just one of those things necessary to explain things to a lay audience.
The one unfortunate thing is that since so few movies have been made about TSs, Bree may be taken as emblematic of TSs rather than an individual who happens to be TS and that her personality isn't reflective of TSs collectively. But even though she's a flawed character (as are most of the characters in the movie) she's a deeply sympathetic character.
A couple thoughts on the audience. The theater was half full (mostly couples from what I could see) -- not bad for a Sunday night and at the end the audience gave a rousing round of applause. There were gasps when Huffman's prosthetic (named Andy) was revealed -- in a key scene in which another character learns Bree's secret -- but part of it may have just been that Andy was a bit big boy and audience aren't used to full-frontal male nudity.
FYI there's an interesting interview with the director among other tidbits, he said he considered casting a TS actress but couldn't find one with the acting chops, or who was willing to come out deep stealth to play the part.
.. The film opens here in the Uk. Friday 10th march 
and here is the official site
Proud Military Family - Navy, Army, Coast Guard, National Guard