Everybody's Talking About Jamie: Film Review

Cast: Max Harwood, Sarah Lancashire, Ralph Ineson, Richard E Grant

Director: Jonathan Butterell

With a setting similar to Billy Elliott, and a gloomy Sheffield vista in the background to show the dreariness of English life, Everybody's Talking About Jamie has all the elements of a familiar coming out tale to juggle with.

But unlike most of its ilk, Everybody's Talking About Jamie largely eschews the cliches of the genre, pushes aside the usual bullying edges, and doubtful parents without abandoning any of its joie de vivre.

Harwood is 16-year-old Jamie, who is coming to the end of his final year in school and is under pressure to decide what he's going to do with his life. An overly sympathetic mum (Happy Valley's Lancashire) and an absentee dad (The Office's Ineson) make up the parenting role models, and Sharon Horgan's career teacher makes up the authority figure in his life - decked out as she is in a pair of fabulous Jimmy Choos.

Jamie wants to be a drag queen, and daydreams of it all, but his future is turned into a galvanised attempt at revolution when he meets Grant's former drag queen, Loco Chanelle, who pushes him in the direction of going to his school prom in drag. So, with a rocket lit under him, Jamie is on a mission to find himself - whatever the cost.

If Everybody's Talking About Jamie starts to sag in its second hour, as most musicals are wont to, it's made up for by the sheer glitz and glamour of its opening acts. 

The dour dreariness of Sheffield complements the high energy vivid colourful nature of Jamie's daydreams. While the musical numbers are competent enough, and nicely choreographed they are largely forgettable after their time in the spotlight.

With the exception of Richard E Grant's whirlwind through the 80s, This Was Me, a song that takes in the hedonism and joy of the decade and the drag scene, but also the abject sadness of the AIDS crisis and a brief nod to Diana too. 

The film's pick-me-up is Grant as the former drag queen, gifting Everybody's Talking About Jamie's Max Harwood, who's more than competent and affable, a companion and mentor that's been sorely missing in his life (despite Lancashire's grounded and down to earth mum).

With lines like "She were like Beyonce in her day" when talking of Emmeline Pankhurst, and "the icing's pink, so it's probably halal", Everybody's Talking About Jamie has a way of keeping the dialogue peppy and unpredictable when it heads to its obvious - but fabulous - conclusion.

If the film falls apart in its final act, it's due to some inserted conflict, the fact Jamie becomes a monster when indulged in his whims and hubris, and the fact everyone gets their happy ending - this is not a coming-of-age film that's interested in anything less than sending people off into the aisles feeling accepted and comforted.

It's borderline family fare, a spiritual successor to Billy Elliott in many ways and also charmingly adept at catching you off guard.

Everybody's Talking About Jamie won't be one of those musical films that's destined to become a classic - it is destined to be treasured by those who adore its joyful nature - and pleasantly enjoyed and then largely forgotten by all the rest of us after its 2 hour run time.

Everybody's Talking About Jamie begins streaming on Amazon Prime Video from Friday September 17.