Elle Fanning goes from Ramona to Ray in the thin, underwhelming drama About Ray, which follows a transgender teen transitioning from female to male.
Gaby Dellal directed About Ray (aka 3 Generations) from a rather shallow screenplay she co-wrote with Nikole Beckwith.
Naomi Watts and Susan Sarandon play Ray’s mother and grandmother, respectively.
Teenager Ray (Fanning) is determined to pursues his true identity as male and his mother Maggie (Watts), lesbian grandmother Dolly (Sarandon) and absent father Craig (Tate Donovan) must learn to accept him for who he is
During the long, painful process, Ray endures struggles of fights at school, and a stern who’s unable to accept the transition.
“What if he turns around one day and says, ‘Mom, I had a mistake’?” worries Sarandon.
The Weinstein Company snagged the movie at Cannes Fest in May in a $6 million deal.
Big Beach’s Marc Turtletaub financed About Ray, and Peter Saraf produced with Dorothy Berwin.
Though world premiering in the Special Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto Film Fest, under the title About Ray, the film was released two years later, on May 5, 2017, by the Weinstein Company as 3 Generations.
Criticized for its chief casting and other problems, the movie was both an artistic and commercial failure.
