Everybody's Talking About Jamie - Theatrical Review

Based on the 2017 stage play of the same by Dan Gillespie Sells and Tom MacRae, this musical story took the UK by storm and was made after a television documentary titled Jamie: Drag Queen at 16 aired in 2011. That documentary followed a 16-year old teenager named Jamie who overcomes the bullying thrown his way by everyone in town to become the next big drag queen. This little slice of life caught the attention of some heavy hitters in the film and stage play world that has now become a major feature film directed by Jonathan Butterell (choreographer of Finding Neverland and stage director) in his feature film debut. It's no doubt that Butterell has a knack for reeling in the emotional turmoil of Jamie throughout the film while mixing in some fantastic music and dance along the way.

Everybody's Talking About Jamie is set in a small English town where everyone seems to know each other. Jamie (Max Harwood) is a high school student who is generally happy and comfortable with himself. He knows exactly who he is and who he wants to be - a beautiful drag queen who brings music and happiness to others. On his seventeenth birthday, his single mother Margaret (Sarah Lancashire) and her close friend Ray (Shobna Gulati) gift Jamie with a knock-out pair of glittery ruby boot heels, which sets Jamie on his journey to perform in drag in front of people. His best friend Pritti Pasha (Lauren Patel) will always stand by his side and accepts him no matter what since she herself is seen as an outcast due to her religion. From here, Butterell reveals through a great origin story - the history of the LGBTQ community and the drag queen saga in the UK via one of the film's best musical numbers through Jamie's new mentor Hugo (Richard E. Grant), formally the legendary drag queen Loco Chanelle, but now the proprietor of a clothing store. From Hugo, Jamie musters of the courage to pick his new stage name, create an outfit and persona, and get rid of that ever-present stage fright to perform in front of people.

While there are some truly fun and hilarious moments through song and dance in Everybody's Talking About Jamie, the film strikes a somber note as well with Jamie's relationship with his classmates and his father Wayne (Ralph Ineson of The Witch) who left him and his mother years prior for his inability to love and accept his son for the way he is. Some of his classmates treat him poorly by making fun of him, teasing him harshly, but then again, the film explores why some of those unkind words by his bullies are really being said. But the saddest theme here is the father/son relationship or lack thereof, especially during one sequence where Wayne tells his son Jamie his true feelings, which is as brutal as it gets.

There isn't anything really new about the story itself at its core or how certain elements of the film play out with characters finding their way or transforming by the end, but there's something special about this tale that feels fresh. One reason is for the excellent chemistry and performances by Max and Lauren as best friends in the film. Their genuine wit and feelings for one another feel real, making their excellent friendship infectious as they navigate high school and Jamie's path to going in drag to prom, much to the dismay of certain educators and students. Lancashire is the perfect role of the supportive mother who wants nothing more than her son to be happy and Richard Grant pulls out a fantastic big cameo that just steals the scene.