Timothy McNeil's ANYTHING: the love story may be expected but it still works beautifully

John Carroll Lynch is one of those great character actors -- like the late Elisha Cook, Jr. or Harry Dean Stanton (but not nearly as old and grizzled as was the latter) who will someday be given his own page-or-two appreciation in a magazine such as Film Comment or Cineaste. Film fans who relish undersung and versatile acting can get their fill of this fine actor now, as -- finally -- he stars in his own, very good little American independent movie, ANYTHING, as a late-middle-aged man named Early, recently widowed, who travels from Mississippi to Los Angeles, first moving in with his uber-controlling sister and her family, and then striking out on his own to find an apartment in Hollywood.

There he meets and begins tentative, oddball relationships with a few of his not-quite-cut-from-the-same-cloth neighbors: a pair of "druggies" downstairs and the transsexual hooker who lives across the hall.

Oh: You're grimacing already? Well, straighten your face and give Anything a shot. As written and directed by Timothy McNeil (shown at right), the movie may be fairly "expected" in terms of what it does and where it goes, but the dialog is often so good -- genuine, specific and occasionally poetic and beautiful -- and the acting absolutely first-rate from the supporting cast on upwards that surrendering yourself to the story will simply happen, and easily, as this movie ambles sweely, sometimes sourly along.

In the leading role, Mr Lynch (above and below) is so quietly perfect and un-showy (he should win an Oscar, but performances this subtle and true seldom do) that he makes Anything and everything that happens believable. And in a tale like this one, that is quite an accomplishment.

In the transvestite role, Matt Bomer, below, makes a very alluring, young, would-be woman, not perhaps quite feminine enough to fool aficionados but very pretty and very believable, all the same. Mr. Bomer manages to be angry and pushy, while simultaneously making his vulnerability and hopefulness apparent, as well. He's a great match for Mr. Lynch, and the two of them work quite some magic to bring the film to fruition.

As that too-controlling sister, Maura Tierney (below, right) also proves a powerhouse in her own way. Again, the role itself may be an obvious one but Tierney's performance helps take it out of the "typical" to give it honest, specific roots.

All of the supporting roles -- from that of the group of "trans" friends to Early's nephew and brother-in-law, and particularly those of the downstairs druggies -- are brought to fine life. Even within the confines of their little screen time, these characters are given fuller, more complex lives than most movies of this genre would supply them.

One of the film's special moments comes early on, as a dinner guest at the sister's home talks too lengthily and embarrassingly about her late and older-than-she husband, whom she loved deeply, even if she did not want to have sex with him. In its oddball and almost comic manner, the scene lays the groundwork for much of what follows. By the time the film has reached its quiet, moving conclusion, with but a single yet most appropriate word spoken, if you are not fully in tune with these complicated people and hopeful for their future, I'll be very surprised.

From Paladin and running just 93 minutes, Anything opens tomorrow, Friday, May 11, in New York City at the AMC Empire 25 and in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Monica Film Center. Elsewhere? I'd hope so, but maybe not. Eventually, though, you'll be able to catch it via DVD or streaming.

A most unlikely-but-likable hero is the subject of Dan Hunt's marvelous, moving doc, MR. ANGEL

Not much of a porn viewer, TrustMovies knew nothing about the subject of Dan Hunt's excellent documentary, MR. ANGEL, that tracks the career of one, Buck Angel, an exceedingly muscular, butch-looking fellow with a high-pitched voice, a successful career in the porn business, and a vagina -- which he displays and evidently uses for both fun and profit. Not a hermaphrodite (he has no penis) and born a girl, Buck is set on sharing his "being" and his experience with as much of the world as will have him.

After seeing this fine documentary in which Mr. Hunt (shown at right) tracks Angel's history, family and career, I suspect that -- against all odds -- he's going to convert a lot of people. And I don't mean convert them to doing or being what he himself is doing and being, but rather converting them to a kind of understanding and appreciation of just how "other" a person can be and still be a person you might like to meet, get to know, learn from, and, yes, even get intimate with.  What is most surprising about Mr. Angel -- the man and the movie -- is how they both manage to appear absolutely one-of-a-kind and yet utterly approachable and comprehensible.

The filmmaker lets us into the history of this girl/guy (that's she, above, as a cute, freckle-faced kid), meet his family (mom and dad are shown below) and even wrestle, as his parents do, with who and what their daughter has become -- and why. The relationship between Buck and his father seems the most tenuous -- "Dad did hit us; I think he crossed a line there," Buck relates in passing -- yet both men are in there pitching, trying hard for some kind of intimacy.

We meet Buck's significant other, Elayne (below, left), and when she tells us how and why she fell in love with the guy, it all seems more than a little possible. And when we finally experience Buck's need for and receipt of a hysterectomy due to all that testosterone ("They never told me that the walls of my uterus could atrophy...."), there is no longer any room for doubt about his commitment.

We also go to Adult Entertainment Expos, watch Buck interact with other porn stars (below), learn that he's been nominated for both Transsexual of the Year and for the most outrageous sex scenes (he wins the former). For all the film's "honesty," I wish it had gone a little deeper into Buck's sex life. Since he has a vagina, one might assume he can climax by being sucked, fucked or fingered. Does it matter whether the perp is a woman wearing a dildo or a man using his own penis? But we don't go there, and that's a shame, really. (Buck does tell us that he quickly rejected the idea of having any kind of penis "installed," as this would have given him something unreal.)

One of the most fascinating sections of the film involves Buck's time as a high-paid, high-fashion model when he was still in his feminine form. She was quite exotic and beautiful, so it is little wonder friends and family expected her to easily settle for that glamorous life. (Why didn't s/he? Drugs and alcohol abuse, for starters.) The photo below offers an interim young man, post-modeling but prior to losing her breasts.

When living in the U.S. became too tricky (he and Elayne were formerly located in New Orleans), the couple relocated to Mexico. Now the guy has joined the "lecture circuit," making public appearances across the U.S. and internationally. "My mission, and I know it sounds cheesy," he explains, "is to change the world."

And yet, on some small level, that is exactly what Mr. Angel is doing, and what he is doing is definitely worthwhile. Stretching boundaries, forcing us to understand "the other" a little better, Buck is certainly some kind of hero, and Mr. Angel is one of the best documentaries about that "other" that I have seen in quite some time. It probes, explores, and takes in other people's views (one of the highlights is Dan Savage's remarks on how our society handles pornography). It's a fine place to start for any folk who feel "different," as well as for their families, friends and co-workers.

Shot over a period of six years, Mr. Angel, from Breaking Glass Pictures and running just 68 minutes, made its premier at this year's SXSW film festival and is available on DVD now. Click here to order. (I hope it will also be available soon on various streaming sites.)