{"id":2377,"date":"2015-12-17T21:37:32","date_gmt":"2015-12-18T02:37:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=2377"},"modified":"2026-10-23T11:12:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T15:12:21","slug":"tangerine-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=2377","title":{"rendered":"Tangerine-2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tangerine-2015<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Sean Baker<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Kitana Kiki Rodriguez<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #301<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"80037676\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed December 17, 2015<\/p>\n

Grade: A<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the rare occasion that I am lucky and privileged enough to stumble upon a gem like Tangerine (2015), it reaffirms my faith in film and creative filmmakers in general.<\/p>\n

Here is a universal lesson: it doesn’t take oodles of money to make a great film. This film was shot with three smartphones!!<\/p>\n

It takes talent and creativity.<\/p>\n

Tangerine is a groundbreaking film, the first (that I am aware of, anyway) to feature transgender actresses at the forefront of a feature.<\/p>\n

The film has earned multiple Independent Spirit Award nominations.<\/p>\n

Shot in a documentary style with grittiness and a frenetic pace, and mixing unique styles of music (hip hop to classic) as the score (a childlike tune begins the film), Tangerine stands out in both story and visual style.<\/p>\n

The film’s first scene begins with two transgender sex workers- Sin-Dee Rella and Alexandra- having a conversation in a coffee shop.<\/p>\n

Sin-Dee has just been released from jail and learns that her boyfriend and pimp, Chester (James Ransone)<\/span>, has been cheating on her.<\/p>\n

It is Christmas Eve.<\/p>\n

The film explores Sin-Dee’s rage and her subsequent search across Los Angeles for Chester and the girl he’s been with. She vows revenge on them both.<\/p>\n

However, beyond this plot point, the heart of the film is the loneliness and isolation that most of the characters (trans and otherwise) share, in one form or another.<\/p>\n

Interspersed with the Sin-Dee story are stories about Alexandra’s feud with a “john” and her pursuit of a singing career.<\/p>\n

Another interesting story is that of a straight male, Razmik, an Armenian cab driver who is enamored with transgender sex workers.<\/p>\n

This may sound bizarre or too out there for some, but Razmik’s story is quite tender and compelling.<\/p>\n

He has a wife, child, and other relatives and is the breadwinner. He is also very conflicted. He does not “use” the sex workers, but rather cares for them and admires them.<\/p>\n

I found all three principal characters interesting in different ways- Sin-Dee and Alex are over-the-top, yet sensitive. While Sin-Dee is aggressive and vengeful, Alex is the kinder of the two and the more sensible and rational.<\/p>\n

She is a sex worker but aspires to more out of life. Razmik is even more interesting- does he have a fetish? Is he shameful for spending money on prostitutes while supporting a wife and child?<\/p>\n

All the characters are victimized in one form or another, and all are dysfunctional, yet weirdly likable.<\/p>\n

I saw moments of Quentin Tarantino’s film style on screen, most notably in the coffee-shop scenes (the beginning and final scenes), as all hell breaks loose and the characters delve into all sorts of crazy behavior.<\/p>\n

Tangerine is a sweet tale about friendship too.<\/p>\n

It is a memorable and powerful film experience.<\/p>\n

In the end, all the characters are hurting and living sad lives, especially since it’s set on Christmas Eve, which might make the film sound depressing, but it isn’t.<\/p>\n

I found it almost uplifting in a way.<\/p>\n

Tangerine (2015) is a completely original, groundbreaking film that I hope people will remember and appreciate fifty years from now.<\/p>\n

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 1 win-<\/strong>Best Feature, Best Director-Sean Baker, Best Female Lead-Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Best Supporting Female-Mya Taylor (won)<\/strong>, Piaget Producers Award<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tangerine-2015 Director Sean Baker Starring Kitana Kiki Rodriguez Scott’s Review #301 Reviewed December 17, 2015 Grade: A On the rare occasion that I am lucky and privileged enough to stumble upon a gem like Tangerine (2015), it reaffirms my faith in film and creative filmmakers in general. Here is a universal lesson: it doesn’t take … Continue reading Tangerine-2015<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[240,192,41,211,339,122,11666],"tags":[12956,10944,5538,6070,5536,12955,5537,5535],"class_list":["post-2377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2015-movie-reviews","category-dramas","category-indiefilms","category-indie-dramas","category-lgbt-dramas","category-gay-films","category-los-angeles","tag-alla-tumanian","tag-clu-gulager","tag-james-ransone","tag-karren-karagulian","tag-kitana-kiki-rodriguez","tag-mickey-ohagan","tag-mya-taylor","tag-sean-baker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2377"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24908,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2377\/revisions\/24908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}