Karma Caméléon

Having only recently read 'Take It Like A Man', Boy George's compelling and brilliantly entertaining autobiography, I was excited by the prospect of this. I've never been a Culture Club or Boy George fan, but I love tales of rock 'n' roll excess and I was happy to find the book did exactly this.

This film, however, proved to be a bit of an anti-climax. Whilst everything appeared to be accurately depicted and the era authentically portrayed, the problem was that it stopped just as things were getting interesting. The book really came into its own once Boy George and Culture Club found fame but film stops dead at this point, with the exception of a few flash-forwards to 1986 when George was engulfed in controversy and smack addiction. I appreciate what went on before is relevant but what was shown in the film should have been condensed down, allowing the majority of it to focus on what happened thereafter. But I guess that ultimately wasn't the point.

I definitely think George's fame, popularity and infamously colourful life warrants a screen adaptation, but merely giving us an insight into what went on beforehand makes me think this was a missed opportunity.

On a slightly more positive note, to hear that the lead was only 17 is astounding and he did a terrific job in what must have been a very challenging role.

*Possible Spoilers* I watched this and it was AMAZING. Full of everything a television programme could need; angst, comedy, romance, honest truths...the list goes on! The acting is incredibly good, and always believable. Though it was all wonderful, my personal favourite parts were the cute and subtle bits of romance. In parts, it made me 'aww' audibly! Douglas Booth, who played George, looks an incredibly amount like him. A perfectly chosen actor, there in my opinion. And, as an added bonus, he's absolutely gorgeous! The only low part for me, was that the lip-syncing of the songs was rather bad. The mouths move to the right words, but it doesn't look like he's actually singing it. But this is merely a small thing, and hardly really detracts from how wonderful the whole thing was. I would highly recommend watching/buying this. A brilliant piece of drama! Douglas Booth is definitely a star in the making! Look out for him in the future!

The costumes and setting of this drama looked amazing and I could not fault the lead performances, but it was so SLOW. I lasted one hour and the action could have been taken care of in half the time. And sex and drugs and rock and roll are never as interesting to watch as they are to participate in. Boy George's pre-fame antics did not make for interesting viewing.

I was never a fan of Boy George but I always thought that he seemed a lovely, intelligent person and thankfully that view has not changed as a result of this drama, but not enough happened to keep my attention. And I don't remember seeing Mark Gatiss at all, unless he was in some effective 'League of Gentlemen' disguise. Did he appear in the first hour that I watched?

To the mainstream, Boy George appeared from left-field, a chart-topping male pop-star who dressed like a woman. Yet George was not just a freak show; he emerged from the androgyny of the New Romantic club scene, even if few had attempted such an extreme look before; his band made records of genuine merit; and of course, in a period where homosexuality was still not as widely accepted as it is now, it was not just for its aesthetic qualities that his dress sense attracted attention. Julian Jarold's film, 'Worried About the Boy', gives a good feeling of what it was like for George prior to fame, finding his way through a world in which he always possessed a measure of star quality; although I don't recall George ever looking quite as naturally feminine as actor Douglas Booth. What the film lacks is a certain narrative purpose: George got dressed up, had relationships, formed bands and eventually made it onto 'Top of the Pops'; 'Worried About the Boy' explains how, but the problem with many real-life dramatisations is that they essentially amount to "stuff happens" and I felt something of the same here. There are hints of a bigger story in the relationship of George and Kirk Brandon; but you need to know what happened later to understand these. And the film is also guilty of some obviousness; when George visits Malcolm McLaren, the Sex Pistols appear on the soundtrack, even though the period is wrong. In spite of this, I still enjoyed the film, an interesting view of an unlikely road to fame.

Worried About The Boy (2010) -

This film had a cracking soundtrack/backing track and it wasn't even saturated with the songs of Culture Club, which in many ways was a shame, but in other ways it showed the music that had been part of Boy George's (Douglas Booth) life until that point.

Because of it's lower "Made For TV" budget it was far more gritty than the likes of 'Rocketman' (2019) and 'Bohemian Rhapsody' (2018), with its concentration more on George and his origins specifically and less about the band or his rise through celebrity.

Personally I wanted to learn a lot more about the years in between 1981 and 1986 and the years that followed, so perhaps it's time for a follow up

I also felt that there should have been more sex and nudity, especially based on the rumours of George's sex life and because Douglas Booth is a handsome guy. I thought that he did a good job in the lead role.

This was also the first time I've seen Freddie Fox play someone other than Freddie Fox and he did it really well too in his role of Marilyn.

And it was interesting to see Richard Madden as yet another gay boyfriend type in the role of Kirk Brandon (Who in real life tried to sue George for his claims that they had a relationship and lost). Maybe Rich will play my husband one day?

I really enjoyed this tale, despite its limited time frame and I'm not joking about a sequel being due. The story of (Boy) George O'Dowd only got more interesting after the events depicted here, certainly as far as I can recall, and even if they were only filmed as a source of entertainment and not entirely factually correct, they would be a great curiosity for Culture Club fans and film buffs alike.

This instalment was acted well and I felt directed and edited with care too. Akin to 'Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!' (2006) and 'Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me' (2008), it was a warts and all piece about an icon.

836.71/1000.