Everybody's Talking About Jamie Review: An Emotional And Enjoyable Journey of Self Discovery

Release date: September 10, 2021
Running time: 115 minutes
Starring: Max Harwood, Sarah Lancashire, Lauren Patel, Shobna Gulati, Ralph Ineson, Adeel Akhtar, Samuel Bottomley, with Sharon Horgan and Richard E. Grant
Screenplay and Lyrics by Tom MacRae, Songs by Dan Gillespie Sells and a Score Composed by Sells and Anne Dudley
Directed By: Jonathan Butterell

Inspired by true events, Everybody's Talking About Jamie is the film adaptation of the award-winning hit musical from London’s West End, about Jamie New (newcomer Max Harwood), a teenager in a blue-collar English town with a dream of life on stage. While his classmates plan their livelihoods after graduation, Jamie contemplates revealing his secret career ambition as a fierce and proud drag queen. His best friend Pritti (Lauren Patel) and his loving mom (Sarah Lancashire) shower him with endless support while local drag legend Miss Loco Chanelle (Richard E. Grant) mentors him toward his debut stage performance. But it’s not all rainbows for Jamie as his unsupportive dad (Ralph Ineson), an uninspired career advisor (Sharon Horgan), and some ignorant school kids attempt to rain on his sensational aspirations. In rousing and colorful musical numbers, Jamie and his community inspire one another to be more accepting, and to see the value in facing adversity stepping out of the darkness into the spotlight.

Everything's Talking About Jamie, as you would expect from an adaptation from a hit musical, has a wonderful soundtrack.  The film's songs are catchy and full of meaning as this young man tries to figure out what he wants with life and how to get there.  It's a great combination of enjoyable beats and meaningful lyrics that will have you smiling and crying along with the plight of the characters.  And these songs are set up with some amazingly elaborate set pieces.  I don't know how the stage play was, but they went all out for the movie adaptation.  They are colorful and entertaining and because lots of these sequences take place in people's imagination, the resulting set pieces are quite imaginative.  

And in between the songs there is a meaningful story about a young person's journey to discover themselves in a town where that shouldn't be as difficult as it is.  And Jamie is portrayed by a fiery, confident, and vulnerable performance by Max Harwood, who is captivating on screen.  He is supported by his wonderful mother (Lancashire) and best friend (Patel) who help to encourage his journey and pick him up when it gets too tough.  And his unlikely and fabulous mentor in Richard E. Grant was another shining character in this enjoyable cast. 

But this film isn't just about Jamie's personal journey; it works in the greater conversation of LGBTQ rights, the HIV epidemic, and the larger movement that Jamie is both benefiting from and hoping to carry the torch for.  But what I also loved about this film is that Jamie is such a confident, charismatic character, yet even he is still unsure about his dreams and coming out to his school classmates.  He is still ridiculed, as you would expect from high school kids, and still has personal dilemmas to deal with.  It was good to see this young, confident soul deal with his own insecurities and finding his place in the overall world.  Jamie's journey is not an easy one, and there are plenty of obstacles along the way where there shouldn't have been, but he perseveres.  And the other wonderful message about this film is that maybe the next generation is ready to carry that torch and will make the world a better, more tolerant place for everyone to be who they want to be. 

Everybody's Talking About Jamie and rightly so; the movie adaptation of the musical has entertaining and impactful songs, a vibrant cast, and an emotional story about finding yourself. 

Watch it.

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Everybody's Talking About Jamie is in theaters on September 10, 2021 and on Amazon Prime on September 17, 2021.  For showtimes, click here.