206. Tucked; movie review

TUCKED
Cert 15
79 mins

BBFC advice: Contains very strong language, drug misuse, strong sex references

Even after more than eight years of the everyfilm challenge, movies have the knack of surprising and none more so than Jamie Patterson's Tucked.
I feared that the relationship between a dying drag queen and a self-assured wannabe would be doused in arty waffle.
Instead, it provides the heart of a picture which shows us never to judge the book by its cover.
Tucked is slight at only 79 minutes but it was long enough to warm my heart.
It stars Darren Nesbitt, a very well-known face from cinema and TV in the 60s and 70s (look him up and you will recognise him).
He plays an ageing and curmudgeonly comedian who is told that he only has weeks to live.

After an initial spat, he takes the up-and-coming artist (Jordan Stephens) under his wing and even allows him to take refuge at his home.
Their difficult backgrounds mean that both have tough exteriors but their respective vulnerabilities are peeled away as the movie progresses.
Nesbitt is excellent in the lead role - his private insecurities masked by his on-stage persona.
As the movie progresses, the more he tugs at the heartstrings, looking back on the mistakes he has made and trying, sometimes clumsily, to put them right.
The real success of the film is that I found myself forgetting about the outrageous dress sense of both of the key characters and concentrating more on their life stories.
It shows that everyone has a mask - it's just that some make theirs more extravagant than others.

Reasons to watch: Surprisingly engaging
Reasons to avoid: The raw language may be a bit much for some

Laughs: A couple of chuckles
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 8/10

Did you know? In 2016, a YouGov poll found 43pc of 18-24 year-olds in the UK do not identify as entirely gay or straight.

The final word. Jamie Patterson: "He (Darren Nesbitt) is always cast as the bad guy, normally with an accent or whatever. So all of a sudden, at the age of 82, to play this sort of character, to be a lead character where he was in dresses and make-up and stilettos and all these things that he’d never even thought about ding, but he drew absolutely everything into it and was incredible." Eye For Film

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