Everybody's Talking About Jamie

"You have to do better than Sandra Banana."

Based on the stage musical of the same name which in turn is based on a real-life story, Everybody's Talking About Jamie is a coming-of-age story where sixteen year-old Jamie begins his dream of becoming a drag queen and plans to where a dress for his school prom. 

I found it interesting that whilst this film mostly follows the beats of a coming-of-age story, there are plenty of things it doesn't do. There's no gradual build-up to Jamie wanting to be a drag queen and being interested in wearing women's clothing that a lesser-film might attempt. No, this stuff is not a sudden whim but an integral part of who he is. 

There's also the classic conflict with Jamie's father not accepting Jamie because of his femininity which is also done in an unusual way. It's not a relationship that is abusive, it's just that the father is cold and distant to Jamie. There's no resolution to this either as sadly is sometimes the case in real life. 

I like the way the film portrayed the school bully. Too often in films bullying can be depicted as a rare occurrence but there's a real feeling here that it's constant and genuinely upsetting in a way that felt extremely familiar to me. There is a sort-of redemption story for the bully but it more comes from Jamie than from the bully himself. There's a sense that the bully is also a proper character too with a little exploration of who he is behind his vitriol. 

The highlight from the film for me was Richard E. Grant as veteran drag queen Hugo. Every scene with him in is excellent and the best musical sequence of the film focuses on Hugo reminiscing of the hey-days of his time as a drag queen and the devastating effect of AIDS on his community. The young cast are excellent and Sarah Lancashire is great as Jamie's loving mother. 

The music for me was something of a mixed bag. The title track was great and is the one that it still running around my head and there's others which are equally joyous pop anthems. There's big dance sequences with Jamie's peers dancing around the school which are done excellently. The slower, more emotional songs though didn't work very well for me, being generally less memorable and not always eliciting the emotions  they are meant to. 

Many of the ideas within this film have been done before but this is still a solid musical with message on loving who you are. It's really warm and feel-good which is certainly something that is welcome this year.