Everybody’s Talking About Jamie *** (2021, Max Harwood, Sarah Lancashire, Lauren Patel, Shobna Gulati, Ralph Ineson, Adeel Akhtar, Samuel Bottomley, Sharon Horgan, Richard E Grant) – – Classic Movie Review 12,913

Max Harwood stars exuberantly and appealingly as Jamie New / Mimi Me in the good-spirited, warm-hearted 2021 true-life coming-of-age musical comedy-drama film Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.

Newcomer Max Harwood stars exuberantly and appealingly as Jamie New / Mimi Me in debut director Jonathan Butterell’s good-spirited, warm-hearted 2021 biographical coming-of-age musical comedy-drama film Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. It seeks to influence people by winning friends, and that’s by and large what it does. It’s not a subtle entertainment but it is a nice one. It has a gleeful, optimistic, self-confident air, doing its hero proud.

The musical is based on the true story of gay, working class 16-year-old northern English schoolboy Jamie Campbell, as he overcomes prejudice and bullying to fulfil his dreams of becoming a drag queen on stage. The screenplay by Tom MacRae is based on the hit stage musical, with a score by Dan Gillespie Sells and book and lyrics by Tom MacRae, inspired by the 2011 BBC Three British TV documentary Jamie: Drag Queen at 16, directed by Jenny Popplewell.

The film stars Max Harwood, Sarah Lancashire, Lauren Patel, Shobna Gulati, Ralph Ineson, Adeel Akhtar, Samuel Bottomley, Sharon Horgan, and Richard E Grant.

On screen Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is likeable and amusing, and fun and funny, but also a bit old-fashioned, manipulative and simple-minded, and creaky and unrealistic as a film. It plays like an old Brit film of the 70s, but not entirely in the best way. What would work on stage doesn’t transfer to real settings easily or comfortably.

The wit and wisdom of the stage show is surely here though, and that’s the film’s entertainment value. There’s good dialogue, interesting characters, and worthy ideas and opinions, with more uplift a la Kinky Boots than challenge. The British humour is there, but the raw grit is largely missing. A tougher-edged film might be a better one, more angry and bitter maybe. A bit harder, a bit more strident perhaps.

Could the hero not be suffering some self doubts? Be more conflicted, provide conflict for the film? Maybe not. He’s a confident hero for our times, and somehow manages to swing everyone round to his way of thinking. How does that work in the real world? Well, apparently it did. There seem to be way more good guys than bad guys in this story. The character of Wayne New (Ralph Ineson), Jamie’s estranged homophobic father, seems a real carboard villain, and so does the school bully Dean Paxton (Samuel Bottomley).

I know it’s based on a real story, but I hardly believed a word of it, and I wanted to. The same is true of the film Kinky Boots. Fantasy version of real life it may seem, fight it if you will, but you can still easily really like it though. It does draw lines and put you on its side.

The performances are fine. Max Harwood is good, and so are Lauren Patel as Jamie’s best friend and Shobna Gulati as Jamie’s mum’s close friend. But better still are Sarah Lancashire as Jamie’s supportive single mother, Sharon Horgan as Miss Hedge, and of course the essential Richard E Grant as Hugo Battersby / Loco Chanelle, a former drag queen and Jamie’s mentor. Hugo/ Loco is now running a most improbable drag queen shop! In the north of England! My how times they are a-changin! Richard E Grant seems like he’s performing a full dress rehearsal for a touring company production of La Cage aux Folles. He’s in his element. He’s a national treasure.

The last musical number pushes its luck. Its high spirits feel contrived and fake. It’s a pity it ends like this. It was supposed to be a show-stopper but it’s just a show-closer.

Gay schoolboy Jamie New lives with his single mother Margaret, and attends Mayfield school in Sheffield, England, Rebuked by his teacher for his unrealistic career plans. Jamie pretends to agree with her, but dreams of being a drag queen onstage. Margaret goes to see her friend Ray to help her prepare for Jamie’s 16th birthday party. Jamie’s estranged father, Wayne, now living with Cheryl, is expected at the party, but he messages Margaret to cancel at the last minute.

It started shooting in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 24 June 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic got in the way of its release by 20th Century Studios. Disney, 20th Century’s parent company, cancelled the US release and sold it to Amazon Studios, who released it in the US on 10 September 2021, followed by streaming on Amazon Prime Video on 17 September 2021. So it became an Amazon Original Movie, rescued by them! Bravo, Amazon!

The show’s original stage director Jonathan Butterell is making his feature film debut.

The show premiered at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield in February 2017, and it transferred to London’s West End at the Apollo Theatre in November 2017 where it ran until September 2021.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 12,913

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