Welcome back to StageSideUK, for a rather prompt review of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, the new movie musical, available on Amazon Prime Video. This movie musical is inspired by the stage show, which is inspired by the 2011 television documentary Jamie : Drag Queen at 16.
This show has received some negative press lately. Primarily for not inviting the original cast to the premier, and also for under-representing drag at the premier. As a large platform, this would have been an ideal opportunity to showcase a complete mixture of gender illusion, art, expression, collaboration and talent. In the future, I hope that premiers will be valued for this platform, and everyone will feel represented. With that being said, I review this movie as a movie. Yes there may have been political issues, but this review will talk about the content of the movie. We shall not be discussing the occurrences at the premier. I hope you enjoy the review.
With an original premier date of February 26th 2021, this film has been delayed a total of almost 7 months, due to the ongoing pandemic. Now it is out, fans have been quick to devour its content faster than Loco Chanelle does her brows.
Starring Max Harwood, Lauren Patel, Shobna Gulati, Sarah Lancashire and Richard E Grant, this musical and its impressive cast, crew and plot, is being streamed right into our living rooms. Included with the Amazon Prime subscription fee, this musical is readily available to a large group of people, who use Amazon services. With some returning classic songs, as well as some new songs joining the soundtrack, this musical gives us theatre nerds what we need. But it also gives some newcomers some pop breaks to make the musical more accessible.
Max, Richard and Sarah
Max Harwood is a brilliant Jamie New. Great timing, raw emotion and some touching moments really brought the persona to life. And the added bonus of an attitude and some rather top notch garments, visually, put this show neck and neck with the stage show. Beautiful, delicate yet powerful. Max was clearly a great fit for the role.
Richard E Grant was a perfect paternal/maternal figure for Jamie, with convincing moments of care and respect. Loco Channel, Grant’s character, was feisty and yet quite tame compared to the stage show. Richard still rose to the occasion and gave a wonderul performance. I do wonder if this character has been diluted for a more accessible show and a longer focus on Jamie.
Sarah Lancashire is a real stand out in this movie, with lovely vocals, some witty lines and a lovely relationship with all of the characters she interacts with, even Jamie’s Dad. Some moments had me laughing and some had me nearly crying.
Of course the rest of the cast also did an amazing job. The ensemble moments were really well done. Some of the characterisation was brilliant and the timing on some of the comedic moments were brilliant. The choreography of the group scenes were brilliant, however there was a moment in and you dont even know it that made me cringe a little bit. When Jamie stares down the camera for about 5 seconds, it makes me feel a bit… weird. The scene behind him is so busy it is such a strange juxtaposition.
The Music!
It is a shame that so many songs were taken out of the original soundtrack, but the songs that did make the cut were done well and sounded good. I would have loved to hear the legend of ‘Loco Chanelle’. The addition of ‘This was me’ supplied us with a decent backstory for Hugo’s character. However, both songs would have worked so well side by side and it is a shame it was removed.
Work of Art was amazing. It reminded me a bit of a Madonna music video mixed with Jamiroquai Virtual Insanity. The esthetically pleasing visuals matched up with the lyrics and rather edgy vocals. I must admit, the singing on this song isn’t my favourite, but it is ok. It isn’t a bad song, it just wasn’t my favourite.
I am confused as to why in Beautiful, a ball room dance sequence was sprung on us. This seemed a bit of a grab for the spectacle. I didn’t need the extra sparkle and I would have probably prefered a deeper emotional connection, than the glitter and sequins.
Some of the other spectacular moments in the movie are amazing. Like in Wall in my Head when Jamie talks to their reflection… Just… YES!
Commercial success
I do think this show has been diluted down for commercial success and I do think some of the hard hitting messages have been washed away. But, I do not think this is a bad movie. The movie provided entertainment. It gave longtime fans some new information. But it also gave new fans a whole new experience in a way that is more affordable and accessible. Is it the same as the theatre show? No. Is it a similar experience? I don’t really think so. Would I reccomend it to people who want to get into musical theatre? Absolutely!
My rating
I would give the movie four out of five stars.
Having seen the documentary, stage show and now the movie, I feel like this is a good representation with added theatrical flare. Lovely to see the added moments at the end about the real Jamie and their life. Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is well put together, it’s just a shame they lost out on some of the music from the stage show.
Your Thoughts?
Have you seen Everybody’s Talking About Jamie? What did you think? Should we be screaming from the rooftops or is it more a whisper? Let me know in the comments and let’s get a discussion going.
As always, please be respectful of each other’s opinions and be kind to each other. I completely respect and value everyone that worked on this movie. We need to remember that these are people with feelings. Let’s treat them with respect. Bullying will not be tolerated and harmful language will be removed.
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Kira Curtis