Newcomer
Harmony Santana makes a spellbinding debut as a 17 year old starting
her transition from a male to a female having won the role before she
started her own true transition. Your eyes do not leave her when she is
on screen. One of the many reasons I love movies is that you can gain knowledge by learning things you didn't know before.

The movie opens when Enrique (Esai Morales) is being released from prison after serving 3 years and coming
home to a son (Santana) he doesn't recognize and a wife (Judy Reyes)
who found solace with another man which she is trying to end.

Instead of concentrating on the dynamics of the relationship between these 3 family members the debut by Rashaad Ernesto Green, as write and director, is marred by one cliche too many and 2-3 unnecessary story lines distracting from the main theme of acceptance and taking the camera and film away from Harmony Santana.

I
originally wanted to see this film because I grew up in the Bronx not
too far from Gun Hill Road and was interested if I would recognize any
of the places--I didn't.

Last year there was a similar film called "La Mission, starring Benjamin Bratt as the father and Jeremy Ray Valdez as the gay son, dealing with the formers
acceptance of the latter. This is a stronger film because just watching
Santana turn into her female self shows a sense of pride and comfort
that only one sure of themselves and mature enough to understand who
they are is a movie in itself.

The
film is not as moving as it should have been because the director
wasn't sure of himself as a director, or writer of the screenplay, to
guide it through with concentrating on the core story.