Gun Hill Road (film)

Gun Hill Road
Directed by	Rashaad Ernesto Green
Produced by	Ron Simons Michelle-Anne M. Small
Written by	Rashaad Ernesto Green
Starring	Esai Morales Judy Reyes Isiah Whitlock, Jr.
Music by	Enrique Feldman Stefan Swanson
Cinematography	Daniel Patterson
Edited by	Sara Corrigan
Distributed by	Motion Film Group
Country	United States
Language	English

Gun Hill Road is a 2011 drama film starring Esai Morales. The title of the film derives from the Bronx road of the same name. The film is notable for starring a transgender character (Michael) who is played by a real transgender person, Harmony Santana, who was the first openly transgender actress to be nominated for an Independent Spirit Award.

Ex-con Enrique (Esai Morales) returns home after a stint in prison. His wife Angela has had an affair while he was away, and his child Michael, who is a young trans woman in the process of transitioning and coming out, is exploring life, leaving Enrique with decisions to make regarding his family's future.

The film has received mixed reviews. Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter said in his review: " In his feature debut, Gun Hill Road, writer-director Rashaad Ernesto Green displays compassion for his characters and an ability to create strong scenes to underscore his thematic concerns. But the story itself is too shopworn especially at Sundance where countless films have presented dysfunctional families where parents and offspring are at odds".

Dennis Harvey of Variety similarly said; "script and direction tend to telegraph all events, draining the competently packaged pic of tension, nuance and surprise".

Director Rashaad Ernesto Green was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

The subject matter of the movie was noted "for the casualness with which it puts a Hispanic transsexual in a black male's bed" because this kind of relationship is rarely seen in movies.

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