Ahead of its September 17th bow on Amazon Prime, the musical drama Everybody’s Talking About Jamie has premiered at Outfest this weekend. Based on a London stage play, Jamie centers on a 16-year-old (Max Harwood) who dreams of becoming a drag queen.
Early reviews are positive. Yet I’m not picking up a vibe where Academy inclusion is much of a possibility. In the three Thursdays where I’ve done my weekly predictions, I thought supporting player Richard E. Grant stood the greatest chance at a nod. Three years ago, Grant nabbed a nomination as Supporting Actor for Can You Ever Forgive Me? (losing to Mahershala Ali for Green Book). However, critical praise is mostly focused on young lead Harwood. I’ve had Grant listed at #7 in possibilities. Don’t be surprised if he drops out entirely when I do my updates in five days.
So could Harwood get in? Doubtful as I see plenty of upcoming hopefuls in Best Actor. Where Jamie could show up is Original Song. The film mixes tracks from the stage with a new one titled “This Was Me”. That could be where Amazon really focuses its campaign.
Bottom line: while critics are being kind – I wouldn’t expect a whole lot of Oscar voters to be talking about Jamie a few months down the road. My Oscar Watch posts will continue…
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