I was looking forward for this movie considering the greats reviews it got and the fact it is based on a true story that should resonate with everyone.
But a few minutes in, what a disappointment.
The whole set up is so flat and banal it kills any emotions.
The musical numbers are meant to reflect Jamie's dreams and imagination but they look terrible. The music is just boring and generic, the lyrics are first degree, the choreographies are poor and very badly filmed.
All the story beats have a deja vu feeling because they are filmed without any creativity or inspiration. And the characters are so painfully black or white (the mean teacher with that embarrassing art song, really?) they are probably complete caricature portrayals of real people.
The best scene for me was the Drag Queen song about the early 90s and AIDS, which was sensitive and heartbreaking. Although it was slightly manipulative the way they tied it to Jamie, being emotional for one second about the past of drag queens.
Having an homophobic dad happens to so many gay kids, it's heartbreaking but the way Jamie acts through his insecurities is quite annoying and mostly very self absorbed. He comes out unlikable despite the reality of his struggle.
Even the prom at the end looked completely fake, like an American prom. And that feeling was comforted by the end credits as you see cuts from the real documentary : the real English prom and Jamie's real dress are so much better than the movie version because they look authentic!
That's what this movie is lacking, authenticity.
But a few minutes in, what a disappointment.
The whole set up is so flat and banal it kills any emotions.
The musical numbers are meant to reflect Jamie's dreams and imagination but they look terrible. The music is just boring and generic, the lyrics are first degree, the choreographies are poor and very badly filmed.
All the story beats have a deja vu feeling because they are filmed without any creativity or inspiration. And the characters are so painfully black or white (the mean teacher with that embarrassing art song, really?) they are probably complete caricature portrayals of real people.
The best scene for me was the Drag Queen song about the early 90s and AIDS, which was sensitive and heartbreaking. Although it was slightly manipulative the way they tied it to Jamie, being emotional for one second about the past of drag queens.
Having an homophobic dad happens to so many gay kids, it's heartbreaking but the way Jamie acts through his insecurities is quite annoying and mostly very self absorbed. He comes out unlikable despite the reality of his struggle.
Even the prom at the end looked completely fake, like an American prom. And that feeling was comforted by the end credits as you see cuts from the real documentary : the real English prom and Jamie's real dress are so much better than the movie version because they look authentic!
That's what this movie is lacking, authenticity.