266. Stage Mother; movie review

STAGE MOTHER
Cert 15
93 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong sex references, language, brief sexual assault, drug misuse

A few years ago, we were invited by people we met in Gran Canaria to go to see a show in which their son was starring.
It turned out that he was one of the resident entertainers at a show bar in the Yumbo Centre - the hub of gay pride in Europe.
And he was a drag artist.
Each to their own but I have to say that I didn't see much attraction in lip-synching, albeit rather cheekily, to well-known songs.
Nevertheless, I found the world of female impersonators both an unusual and uplifting subject for Thom Fitzgerald's comedy-drama, starring the excellent Jacqui Weaver.
She plays Maybelline Metcalf, the leader of a Texas church choir who discovers her estranged son has died following drink and drugs abuse.
Despite their years apart, she travels to San Francisco for his funeral and discovers a life of which she had known nothing.
His friends are initially suspicious of her motives, especially when it transpires that she has inherited his gay/drag club.

However, she is taken under the wing of hard-as-nails single mum (Lucy Liu) and she acts as a go-between to her son's pals.

These include his partner (Adrian Grenier) who very gradually warms to her and her ideas to improve the club.

Stage Mother certainly has light-hearted moments with a few knock-out songs but there is much pathos as it tackles hard issues of exclusion, drug-taking and relationships.

I particularly enjoyed the manner in which Maybelline discovers much about herself and her own prejudices - sadly, too late to have given her a better relationship with her son.
On the downside, I found its final resolutions to easy and even a bit cheesy.

Overall, though, I would recommend it.

Reasons to watch: Uplifting and unusual content
Reasons to avoid: The singing isn't always the greatest

Laughs: Three
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7.5/10

Did you know? The first person to describe himself as "the queen of drag" was William Dorsey Swann, born enslaved in Hancock, Maryland, who in the 1880s started hosting drag balls in Washington, DC attended by other men who were former slaves.

The final word. Thom Fitzgerald: "I had recently lost my brother when I read the script, he drank too much one night, just like Ricky in the movie. I saw my mother go through the process of learning about her son posthumously and I had never been to my brother’s condo until after he passed. So I really understood the idea of learning to love a person more fully, after passing." Movies.ie

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