We like to believe that we are in a more enlightened moment – and handling it rather well – when it comes to gender identity and the fluidity of sexuality, which means that we offer up films like Gaby Dellal’s About Ray to pat ourselves on the back. The story of transition for Raymona (Elle Fanning) to Ray takes a sneaky backseat to the dilemmas of Ray’s mother (Naomi Watts) who must finally confront the sins of her past by reaching out to Ray’s father, so that the consent forms can be signed for Ray’s surgery. Also in the mix are Ray’s grandmother (Susan Sarandon) and her life partner (Linda Emond), a smart and cultured bantering dynamic duo, eager to debate lesbian and feminist politics, while holding onto the idea of Raymona, a person who simply does not exist.

Fortunately, Fanning, in a few key and precious scenes reminds us that this story if supposed to be About Ray. We get the big beats of transitioning concerns – a high school crush who doesn’t understand or acknowledge Ray’s longings, a senseless beatdown by kids on the street – but those moments don’t matter as much as the rage and physical confusion Fanning exhibits through her body language. What we are privy to is a tall gangly young woman, taking her own body and adjusting it’s nuances and rhythms to those of a gawky teenage boy. This is first and foremost a subtle bit of work, full of raw vulnerability that ends up buried in the melodrama and whip-smart laughs that litter the screen in the broader big picture.

There is a totally undiscovered world, a teenage middle-earth, full of issues and concerns we rarely get to see. The media focuses on female body issues, bullying, and the ever-fluid conceptions of sexuality, but what About Ray speaks to is questions about what it might truly mean to be a boy on the verge of manhood, as seen by someone making the transition from an unconsidered remove. Watching Ray lift weights to build bulk and body mass opens the door to a discussion that no one ever steps through in either the film or in real life. What constitutes the male form? Ray is in the distinct position to get us to challenge this idea, but the film turns a blind eye to this, in favor of, well, conventional dramatic elements.

Such a shame though because the real film About Ray would have been a necessary and timely story that could have turned the spotlight not just on the character of Ray, but also the emerging star this is Ms. Elle Fanning. (tt stern-enzi)