Everybody’s Talking about Jamie (2021 | UK/USA | 115 | Jonathan Butterell)
Jamie New has never felt ordinary, and fitting in with the rest of the kids wasn’t a priority but it wasn’t easy to go to school every day feeling like an outsider. Dreaming of becoming a performer, a star, is a desire he’s always known and can’t seem to live without and he’s just waiting to get out of high school to burst onto the drag scene. Based on the very real story of a kid wanting to be more, waiting to be more but finding resistance at every turn, this is the third in a line of productions based on his life starting with a television show, evolving into a broadway play and (maybe) finishing with this movie. Of course there are trials and tribulations, but every decent musical has it… drama! And Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is no exception.
The story is so universal, you don’t have to dream of being a drag queen to feel close to the main character, so every iteration of this particular plot is a success. Honestly though, it’s been told many times in many ways, so why keep telling it? It’s uplifting, it’s inspiring and it’s just fun to throw yourself into. We all want to feel like we belong and hopefully found a place, a thing an avocation that calls to us… helps us to feel comfortable in our own skin.
I’m always a bit wary of films based on musicals because you never know if it’ll feel like a filmed performance of the stage play or make an impact of its own. The former feels stunted, sort of boring and makes me wish I had a couple grand to head to NYC and watch it in person instead of wasting two hours on the film. The latter, like Billy Elliot or even Chicago transports the viewer into the story and creates a world of its own. I’ll put Everybody’s Talking About Jamie closer to the the latter but it could have used a bit more of a filmed touch. Adaptations are so difficult to do and this one was successful, there were just a few moments that felt more theatrical rather than movie magic if you get my meaning. Either way, it was worth my time in the “theater” and if you’re not the theater-going type right now, you can see it soon from your home theater on Amazon Prime (releasing on their platform on 9/17). So sing, dance and be yourself right in your living room.
Everybody’s Talking about Jamie is in theaters now and available on Amazon Prime 09/17