Everybody's Talking About Jamie (2021)

User Review

• 

  Barneyonmovies

  8 / 10

  WHAT I LIKED: A near word-for-word reproduction of the stage musical, 'Everybody's Talking About Jamie,' follows the touching true story of a young Sheffield boy pursuing his dream of becoming a drag queen. He's helped along by his best friend, his mother and one drag mentor, and is held back by school bullies and his unsupportive father, and seeing him overcome those obstacles makes it a worthy thing to watch on its own. But it only hits you in the gut because it's performed so well - particularly by lead Max Harwood who brilliantly brings out Jamie's vulnerability as well as his daydreaming and determination - and because its relation to the empowerment of drag culture is so embedded in the dazzling musical numbers and the words of old drag queen Loco Chanel (masterfully posted by Richard E. Grant) who also gets to deliver a montage about the persecution of queer people in the past. That all makes the inevitable conclusion extremely uplifting, and that's buoyed even further by a script that's as full of humour as the stage play on which its based.
  
  WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: You can't help but wish that Jamie's everyday surroundings looked a bit less glossy and artificial so that the contrast between his harsh reality and his dream hit home. As it is, the moments between the musical numbers look rather like they've been shot by someone who's only ever filmed a commercial, as the camera never stops slowly moving, and the set decoration is strangely clinical.
  
  VERDICT: A touching true story about a character overcoming adversity and achieving his dreams, 'Everybody's Talking About Jamie,' may be stagey in its execution, but frankly there's little wrong with that.

  Like?

  0 member like this review.