Everybody's Talking About Jamie
Jamie New is 16 and doesn’t quite fit in—instead of pursuing a "real" career he dreams of becoming a drag queen. Uncertain about his future, Jamie knows one thing for sure: he is going to be a sensation. Supported by his loving mom and his amazing friends, Jamie overcomes prejudice, beats the bullies and steps out of the darkness, into the spotlight.
- Released: 2021-09-10
- Runtime: 115 minutes
- Genre: Comedy, Drama, Music
- Stars: Max Harwood, Sarah Lancashire, Lauren Patel, Sharon Horgan, Richard E. Grant, Shobna Gulati, Ralph Ineson, Adeel Akhtar, Samuel Bottomley, John McCrea, Charlotte Salt, Rita May, Kacie Doocey, Saskia Davis, Ellis Brownhill, Riya Gadher, Zion Battles, Deavion Brown, Dylan Galliah, Remy-Henderson Tyreese, Lauren Fidget Haywood, Kennedy Parkin, Suki Wong, Amaan Anjum, Kazmin Borrer, Luca Moscardini, Shalea Fox, Tia Holden, James Sharp, Lewis Sharp, Zane Al-Saroori, Daniel Wallace, Daniel Wallace, Jide Salami, Gareth Joyner, Mark Sheals, Shameem Ahmad, Kemaal Deen-Ellis, Danny Cunningham, Bianca Del Rio, David Hoyle, Aiden Treays, Ramzan Miah
- Director: Jonathan Butterell
Comments
- Neon_Gold - 3 June 2023
A Warm Watch
This would definitely come code to home for lots of queer people. It was nice to see a British queer story that featured something that I related with.
It has a heart and is definitely feel good. I do think it's definitely tailored for a straight audience. It has a softness and digestible feel.
It's painfully northern (I'm northern). I think younger Northern people struggle to act, they all sound like they are in year 7 drama class. Obviously Sarah Lancashire is great and had such a deep feel to her character. She brought a lot. The lead...he's a good singer.
I think it's too long and the script is rough, it feels like a 40 year old has wrote teenage characters. Everything they say just sound so off. Aside from the dialogue I also felt like the story was strange. I think it seems very muddy. There is a internal conflict that comes of of absolutely nowhere right in the middle of the movie. Totally unwarranted to this character that we have watched for over an hour. It makes complete sense when explained but why they chose to place this in the middle of the movie without building to it, I have no idea. Another strange thing for me was the choice of dress at the end. It was like he went in granny's closet? Such a strange choice.
I'm glad movies like this are becoming more common and I want them to continue and become even better. - Prismark10 - 13 November 2021
Everybody's Talking About Jamie
The stage musical Everybody's Talking About Jamie was inspired by the BBC documentary Jamie: Drag Queen at 16.
The film version excises some of the songs but still leaves the movie too long with the story too thin.
Jamie New (Max Harwood) is 16 years old and in the final year of his high school in Sheffield. Life is dull and career prospects is basically factory work.
Jamie is flamboyant, mocked by those in school as gay. His father abandoned Jamie for not being the macho son he wanted. His mother Margaret (Sarah Lancashire) is supportive of Jamie's penchant for cross dressing.
With the help from his Muslim classmate Pritti. Jamie decides to go to his school prom in drag. His teacher Miss Hedge is antagonistic with the idea especially as Dean the class bully refuses to attend such a freak show.
Jamie finds a mentor in ageing drag queen Hugo (Richard E Grant) who once performed as Loco Chanel.
This is a light feelgood musical. Too light for my tastes. The best and quirkiest bits were from Grant especially when you see Loco's backstory and the struggle for gay and trans rights.
I would argue that in recent years transphobia has gone worse and even mildly legitimised.
The film version needed more darkness. There is an air of that as Miss Hedge seems more concerned about Dean's rights than Jamie's to attend the prom in a dress. The head Mr Masood who is another Muslim character seems to be absent for so much of that conflict.
