by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
Stage musicals to film have had a broad cinema history. Some musicals knock it out of the park, while others suffer from the lack of stage production and the expansion of plot beyond the story to fill more screen time. As I wrote in my Come From Away review,for musicals, or rather most types of stage production, I’m in the “wait and see” camp. I do not actively keep up with them, but I like plays/musicals enough to give them a chance, and I will gladly shell out money to go see it when they eventually show up in Chicago.
Now we come to Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Amazon Studio’s film adaptation of the 2017 British musical of the same name. The film is about a 16-year-old named Jamie New (Max Hardwood), a gay high schooler who has ambitions of being a drag queen. His best friend and doctor-to-be Pritti Pasha (Lauren Patel) supports Jamie in his endeavor to be a drag queen and is a sage guide through the gauntlet of high school. On his birthday, his mum Margaret (Sarah Lancashire) and her friend Ray (Shobna Gulati) want to support Jamie, and they gift him a pair of fabulous shoes. Jamie’s father is estranged, but he craves a real relationship with his dad. While trying to break into the local drag queen community, Jamie, following his dreams, meets local shop owner and drag queen legend Hugo Battersby and his drag queen persona Loco Chanelle (Richard E. Grant), who takes Jamie under his wing and guides him to his destiny. Jamie overcomes obstacles like teacher Ms. Hedge (Sharon Horgan); who’s looking for Jamie to tone down his act and follow the rules as outlined; Dean Paxton (Samuel Bottomley) the school bully; and even himself as he struggles to find his true place in his community and be comfortable with who he is.
I’m a sucker for any coming-of-age or well-I-guess-this-is-growing-up stories. High school in particular is the perfect time for a coming-of-age story even though, as Hugo put it in the movie, a 16-year-old has no idea who they are because they’re still baking. What I really enjoyed about this is how for Jamie, surviving the last days of high school boils down to being comfortable with your identity, maintaining and balancing relationships, and finding that passion to pursue once high school is done. This shines with all three of them.
High school is already a tough time to discover who you are while trying to find your place in the world and where your future may take you one day. For Jamie, although he knows what he wants to do with his life when he says “I don’t want to be a drag queen, I need to be a drag queen,” the struggle for him is finding the balance to be comfortable in his own skin. Jamie’s introductory drag queen performance as his drag queen persona Mimi Me is a complete success as the audience loves him and he feels more confident than ever in his performance. The real nuance of the character comes when his drag queen persona starts to bleed with his real life and how he starts to meld both of these parts of his life into one. Harwood is a relative newcomer to Hollywood, at least according to IMDb, and this feels clearly like a passion project/dream role. He sounds astonishingly like the original musical production. Jamie doesn’t have a powerhouse voice you’d typically find from a lead, but his sassy delivery, along with the emotion he conveys, truly make this a unique character for a musical. Jamie’s overall evolution as both Mimi Me and ultimate as Jamie New was fun to watch and heartwarming.
Relationships define everything in this movie. Jamie’s three best relationships support him the best they could. Jamie and his mum Margaret have an amazing relationship, where she supports him and loves him no matter what. Margaret, who’s a single working mother and is constantly covering for Jamie’s father even though he doesn’t want her to anymore, sends a beautiful message for any parent to strive for: love your children for everything they are. It couldn’t have been easy for Margaret, but she truly does a wonderful job of raising Jamie to be the person he is and eventually becomes throughout the film. Some tropes of parents lying to kids to protect them are made. It’s a little frustrating because there has yet to be single instance I’ve seen in pop culture or in real life where that has been a good idea. Lancashire conveys the hardship a single parent must endure to do whatever it takes to raise a child on their own.
Jamie’s relationship with his father also shapes him into the person he is. His father is where he gets his fears, anxieties, and doubts about who he is. The few lone scenes Jamie and his father actually interact are devastating to watch. Harwood conveys the pain he feels so well in his reactions. This also makes Jamie’s relationship with Hugo all the more important because he will be the closest thing to a father figure he will get. Grant is so charming in this role, and I couldn’t help but smile seeing him on screen. He’s such a beacon for Jamie and Harwood and Grant’s chemistry on screen together is electric.
What the film has to say about following your dreams is amazing. They don’t pull any punches about the struggles that come with being part of the drag queen community. It’s not easy and they’ll have to endure more pain and suffering than they’ll expect. Jamie knows this is what he wants to do, but doesn’t realize how it will affect him yet, either. Luckily for him, Pritti is there to help him. Pritti, to me, is the standout character. Patel is my standout performance for this film and I would love to see her in more roles. Pritti and Jamie help each other in numerous ways, but Pritti pushing Jamie to “don’t wait for tomorrow, be happy today” sets the tone for how Jamie gets to seize his chance.
The music in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is the right mix of pop and broadway that I like. This probably won’t be a soundtrack I will listen to often, but I enjoyed the music a lot. With the exception of Grant, the cast is not only small, but mostly filled with lesser known actors making the most of their opportunity. Production values are top notch with the musical numbers. This is tricky for me to envision as a stage performance though. The span is so wide with eclectic set pieces like Hugo’s shop, the school, and Legs Eleven, where Jamie’s first drag queen performance is, that I couldn’t imagine how the set design would be for them all.
This is an instance where the film adaptation helps flex creative muscles while dialing up the spectacle of the performances. I’d be lying if I said the Prom scene didn’t get to me. I loved it for the decision that Jamie makes, but also the decision that his classmate makes as well. It felt a little too wrapped up in a bow at the end. However, it did pull on the heartstrings enough to put a smile on my face.
I liked this enough to recommend this to musical fans and coming-of-age story fans. Although it’s not reinventing the wheel with the story, it gives viewers a chance to learn a story about something that happened in real life to someone and helps give people a chance to relate to finding your purpose and being true to who you are. Streaming services are gobbling up adaptations left and right. I had read this has been in the works for a while before ending up on Amazon, which also has the British documentary the film and musical are based on: Jamie: Drag Queen at 16. Stories like this finding on streaming platforms, although maybe not capturing a wider audience who don’t subscribe to everything, is important to help diversify the voices coming into Hollywood and to give new faces a chance to shine. Hopefully the stage performance comes to the United States soon so I can watch the stage performance and compare notes.
Grade: B-
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