EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE: A Cheerful Teen-Drag Musical

From In The Heights to Annette to Dear Evan Hansen to Tick, Tick…Boom! to another reimagining of West Side Story, 2021 is the year of musicals. Musicals aren’t for everyone, but that doesn’t stop filmmakers from making film adaptations of stage musicals. There is an audience for musicals, and I am amongst that audience who is familiar with Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, the West End musical created by Tom MacRae and composed by Dan Gillespie Sells. Two years ago, I saw a filmed version of the stage musical that played at the movie theatre for a special one-night event. The musical was upbeat and empowering, with just the right amount of sentimentality. But not all musicals translate well from stage to screen. Thankfully, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is one of the better film adaptations of a stage musical. 

The movie adaptation, directed by Jonathan Butterell and written by Tom MacRae, implements the same narrative beats of the stage musical and doesn’t do much differently. However, the movie doesn’t need to drastically change how the story unfolds just as long as the message of being yourself is conveyed honestly — and it is by virtue of an extremely charming cast and Butterell’s appreciation of the material. 

An Exuberant Musical With Positivity Galore

Set in Sheffield, England, the musical follows Jamie New (Max Harwood), a teenager who dreams of becoming a drag queen. It is a divulgence made early on when asked by his teacher, the austere Miss Hedge (an enjoyably brusque Sharon Horgan), what his career aspirations are. Already mocked by classmates for his flamboyance and homosexuality, Jamie is constantly undermined by people who think his dreams of becoming a drag queen are rather quixotic. Fortunately, Jamie has a good support system: his mother Margaret (Sarah Lancashire) and his best friend Pritti (Lauren Patel) are supportive of his big aspirations. 

On Jamie’s sixteenth birthday, his mother surprises him with an expensive pair of red heels he’s been saving up for. Feeling more confident than ever, Jamie begins to develop his drag queen persona. His first stop is a local drag store owned by Hugo (a delightfully animated Richard E. Grant), somebody with a drag persona of his own: Miss Loco Chanelle. Jamie hopes to go to prom as the fierce drag queen he only dreamt of being, much to the dismay of Miss Hedge and school bully Dean (Samuel Bottomley). At the same time, Jamie is unaware that his homophobic father (Ralph Ineson) doesn’t want anything to do with him. More interestingly, Jamie’s mother covers for his father’s absence. Surely, that will backfire. 

The plot alone anticipates an endearing, uplifting story in which Jamie will overcome adversity and become his true self. Despite knowing how a story unfolds, predictability does not always equate to monotony or failure on a storytelling level. And the way that Jamie is written by MacRae and portrayed by Harwood, Jamie eventually realizes that he must stray from the idea that he only can reach a high level of self-assurance and self-reliance while under his drag queen persona. There is much more to Jamie than the fabulous dresses and shoes he puts on, something which the film effectively explores by not really emphasizing Jamie in actual drag. You only see a fleeting glimpse of Jamie performing in drag. The movie largely explores Jamie’s wrestling with his self-image, further complicated by the duality of his mother’s support and his father’s revulsion toward his drag queen persona.

While people can influence how we see ourselves, self-empowerment comes from within, which is achievable by recognizing your worth and valuing every part of yourself. Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is by no means a wholly authentic examination of LGBTQ youth. Nevertheless, the buoyant musical creates a sense of community that is characterized by all-embracing, innocuous positivity, so much so that it becomes hard to resist.

Max Harwood Makes An Impressive Film Debut As Jamie

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is brimming with heart and brio, which are qualities that originate from Max Harwood, who is an absolute star. In addition to playing Jamie with palpable charisma, Harwood’s tenor voice is pleasing and powerful, as experienced in “The Wall In My Head,” a touching musical number about the time Jamie’s father caught him putting on lipstick. Margaret is played perfectly by Sarah Lancashire, whose performance as Jamie’s loving mother is emotionally resonant (her song, “He’s My Son,” is breathtaking and elevates her performance). 

The opening number, titled “And You Don’t Even Know It,” has Jamie dreaming about stardom, yielding a fantasy in which Jamie’s surrounded by boisterous fans. Jamie has a big imagination, and yet most of the musical numbers are underwhelmingly performed in school cafeterias, backyards, hallways, and classrooms. Howbeit, Jonathan Butterell makes it work. Perhaps it is his experience as a theater director that explains how he expertly utilizes the small, sensible sets. The musical numbers are performed by a small group of dancers, with abrupt transitions into vibrant fantasy scenarios. In harmony with the consistent vibrancy is the smooth and active camerawork of Christopher Ross, who keeps the singers and dancers in the frame without overwhelming the viewer. The musical numbers, while colorful and magnetic, are diverting and controlled. 

Most of the songs used in the original musical are in the film adaptation. There is one song made specifically for the movie and Jamie’s drag queen mentor Hugo: “This Was Me”, which replaces the track “The Legend of Loco Chanelle.” “This Was Me” is a song that documents Hugo’s experiences as a drag queen in the late 1980s. A video on a nearby television shows the highs and lows of Loco Chanelle’s drag career as the AIDS epidemic started affecting society. The song doesn’t quite feel emotionally earned, but it does give Jamie perspective and conveys how drag has always been an act of rebellion and expression.

Truthfully, most of the musical numbers lack sufficient build-up due to stagy dialogue that doesn’t flow organically on-screen. Even so, the moving musical numbers which are either sung by Max Harwood, Sarah Lancashire, or Lauren Patel are fairly stirring because they are naturally expressive performers. Despite the talented cast, the numerous relationships that Jamie juggles throughout are not as fleshed out as they could have been. But that has more to do with the final act resolving conflict way too quickly and neatly, which would have been fine if the emotional moments struck a chord, but they never do. 

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie: Conclusion

All in all, Jonathan Butterell‘s flashy and lively musical is undeniably sweet. Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is somewhat superficial in approach, hindered by undercooked emotion and cursory conflict. That being said, Jamie himself is someone you can’t help but admire for all of his confidence, charm, and style, courtesy of Max Harwood, who is worthy of being talked about for his performance as a teen growing into himself. 

Have you seen Everybody’s Talking About Jamie? If not, are you interested in seeing it? Let us know in the comments!

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie was released on Amazon Prime Video on September 17, 2021. 

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