By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Thom Fitzgerals
Starring: Adrian Grenier | Jacki Weaver | Lucy Liu | Mya Taylor
Country: canada
Year: 2020
Running time: 93
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8364138/reference
Michael says: “Director Thom Fitzgerald was part of the cavalcade of talent present at our 10th Awards Ceremony, way back in 2004 with his debut film, HANGING GARDEN, taking the special Vanguard Award. His latest film, STAGE MOTHER, has got to be the feel good movie of the year, or at the very least, the feel good drag movie of the year. A cultural collision between a small-town Texas choir-mistress and drag performers at a gay bar seems like good fodder for comedy. And it is. But it’s also surprisingly powerful in the way it teaches us that it’s never too late to find your passion, spread your wings and fly. What could be more enticing than a performer wannabe, from a right-wing Texas town after the son she cut out of her life ten years ago, much to her everlasting regret, dies unexpectedly leaving her the legal owner of the gay bar he owned with his partner. This is a real crowd-pleaser, with a fairly recognizable story/script, one that is pretty emotionally manipulative, but you don’t mind, because even as the tears are milked the viewer is having a grand old time.
“Much of that must be credit to Jacki Weaver, who stars as Maybelline Metcalf, the afore-mentioned Texas choir-mistress, who absolutely steals the film. Her diminutive frame belies the incredible strength this woman has, even while never raising her voice. Other great performances make the film even more fun, from Lucy Liu’s hot mess of a mom, Mya Taylor (TANGERINE) giving us transgender drag with elegance and wit, and legendary Drag Queen Jackie Beat giving a grounded and powerful performance as Dusty Muffin, the troupe’s drag mother. A couple of surprise performances from Allister MacDonald and Oscar Moreno, as drag queens Joan and Tequila respectively, do some pretty fine acting something that isn’t a given from professional drag queens. Kudos to them! While Weaver’s Maybelline is the real Stage Mother, the film might as well be called THE FAIRY GODMOTHER, as Maybelline goes around sprinkling her magic dust on all the ensemble cast members, much to our giddy delight. 3.5 cats
“I encourage you to check out the Provincetown Film Festival Reimagined if you’ve got some time to watch a few movies over the weekend. They’ve got a nice line-up, and there are fun Zoom Q&A’s to boot.”
Chris says: “As Thom Fitzgerald films go, STAGE MOTHER feels pretty safe compared to the likes of THE HANGING GARDEN and THE VISIT, but safe doesn’t always mean boring or unexceptional. For a fish-out-of-water LGBT drag-heavy comedy-drama, it’s genuine and heartfelt and has a good cast (Mya Taylor, Jackie Beat, Lucy Liu); the best reason to see it, however, is for Jacki Weaver’s bravura lead performance–seriously one of her very best, as career-defining as Olympia Dukakis in TALES OF THE CITY (and Weaver can sing, too.) 3.5 cats”