The Prom came out at the end of last year, and made the criminal mistake of taking a young girl’s story of identity and sexuality away from her, making it about the famous people trying to “help” her. Everything The Prom wanted to be, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is; the celebrities are there, but they’re around to help Jamie New (Max Harwood) become something special, not make the movie about themselves. You heard me right Meryl! I’m calling you out.
Jamie lives in Sheffield, a city in the north of England. He’s out and proud by his 16th birthday, but there’s more to Jamie’s story. Despite his teacher Miss Hedge’s (Sharon Horgan) assertions that he find some responsible career, Jamie only dreams of becoming a drag queen. With the support of his mom Margaret (Sarah Lancashire) and best friend Pritti (Lauren Patel), Jamie goes about the few places in town to help achieve that goal, stumbling into a clothing store owned by a former drag queen (Richard E. Grant) who coaches Jamie to fulfill his dream and maybe finally win his hard hearted dad’s (Ralph Ineson) heart finally.
I’ll admit that I hadn’t quite understood the full appeal of why becoming a drag queen is so appealing until very recently. For novices to the drag world, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie captures the essence of why the art is so important. We learn that a drag queen is the superhero alter ego of the person who embodies the queen. Inside of that alter ego, that person can do anything, and happily be fully themselves, as the persona acts as an invisible shield of comfort. Those shields, as Richard E. Grant sings to us, helped navigate the LGBT community through the struggles of oppressive regimes (in the UK’s case, the Margaret Thatcher Prime Ministership) outright bigotry, and a terrifying AIDS crisis. Jamie’s job is to learn about these powers, and use them for the same end, to help himself and the scared and confused in the next generation and fight for the ostracized and discriminated. With his new shield, Jamie overcomes his insecurities and fears (some a bit too contrived), ready to take on the world with a new sense of self. By taking the art form seriously, the movie (adapted from the play) elevates the story to something more than just a coming of age story.
But don’t worry, just cause the story’s subject matter is heavy doesn’t mean it’s not hella fun too. There’s catchy songs aplenty, but more importantly, the song direction is downright impressive. New director Jonathan Butterell shows impressive variability in musical numbers, which can usually get repetitive in most musicals. The opening number is a big school song and dance, jumping then to a somber backyard flashback number, then jumping to a black and white scolding number by a cruel schoolteacher. Despite their different staging, each song has a propelling energy to it, and usually is grounded by the scene preceding or succeeding it, instead of just “having to have” a musical number for the hell of it. Plus, with at least one drag show, you know the Costume designer has a ball coming up with some of the most dazzling elaborate ensembles they get to put together.
The UK kills it when it comes to LGBT storytelling: Bohemain Rhapsody, Ammonite, Disobedience, and my personal favorite, Pride. I think their country went through its societal confrontation earlier than the US, so they had more time to mine out the best stories. That’s why their coming of age LGBT musical involves an honest study of the life of a drag queen, while the US’s has James Corden explain how hard his life is to a girl living in a repressive state.