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About Ray

USA, English, 87 mins

Drama | Trans | 2015

Original Title

Three Generations

Director: Gaby Dellal
Writer: Nikole Beckwith; Gaby Dellal
Producer: Dorothy Berwin; Leah Holzer

CGiii Comment

No surprises as to why this film disappeared without trace...despite the big names!

Names [& production company] that could have propelled this film into the mainstream/stratosphere...alas, after its première [at a very prestigious film festival], The [mighty] Weinstein Company [no less] cancelled the release!!!

And now...it's released!!! Gotta re-coup some of the costs, hopefully!!! A name change can't improve a lousy movie!

The writing is truly shambolic. About Ray [now 3 Generations] is not about Ray!!! Ray being a young man - lost in a myriad of subplots - going through FTM transition...and, in the process, delivering every tired and wretched cliché in the book. Add to this...Elle Fanning's eponymous Ray...a moaning, whining horror of a character...bedecked in the most horrific, ill-cut wig ever to disgrace the big screen [if it ever got to the big screen]! This kid is the epitome of high maintenance...it's all me, me, me and I want, I want, I want...ooooh, put a sock in it before you lose the audience...oops, too late, the cinema just emptied!

Call it a meltdown, call it a malfunction...but, you can almost hear the director saying as she presented the script: This role has Oscar nomination written all over it!!! Wrong! This certainly is no Boys Don't Cry!

Is it all doom and gloom...well, yes...apart from...

...Susan Sarandon's lesbian grandmother, she does - thankfully - supply some [gritty] light relief...with some juicy lines. Alas...she, herself, could not save this film.

Gaby Dellal made the excellent Angels Crest, every director has a bad film, this is her humdinger!

Trailer...

The(ir) Blurb...

Family living under one roof in New York must deal with a life-changing transformation by one that ultimately affects them all. Ray is a teenager who has come to the realization that she isn't meant to be a girl and has decided to transition from female to male. His single mother, Maggie, must track down Ray's biological father to get his legal consent to allow Ray's transition. Dolly, Ray's lesbian grandmother, is having a hard time accepting that she now has a grandson. They must each confront their own identities and learn to embrace change and their strength as a family in order to ultimately find acceptance and understanding.

Cast & Characters

Elle Fanning as Ray;
Naomi Watts as Maggie;
Susan Sarandon as Dolly;
Maria Dizzia as Sinda;
Tate Donovan as Craig;
Sam Trammell;
Linda Emond as Frances;
Jordan Carlos as Youngie;
Tessa Albertson as Spoon;
Ismael Peter Casillas III as Kissing Couple Student;
Mattea Conforti as Mia;
Jason Erik Zacek as Student;
Rob Yang as Rental Car Clerk;
Maxwell Simkins as Cole;
Andrew Polk as Dr. Brillstein