Tucked

Writer and director Jamie Patterson is the co-founder of Jump Start Productions and has both written and directed many British films. He brings to life the world of drag queens in this sparkling film released in 2017 in the UK, winning awards in the 2018 Los Angeles Outfest Film Festival.

The film opens in a LGBTQ+ nightclub with elderly Jackie Collins (Derren Nesbitt) lip-syncing a song then delivering some of the funniest audience-focused jokes of any stand up comedienne. Jackie is not gay: he has always had an affinity for dressing in women's clothes, was married to a woman who died of cancer, and has a estranged daughter Lily (April Pearson) whom he has not seen in years. Jackie encounters a young drag queen Faith (Jordan Stephens), sees that Faith is sleeping in his car, and invites him home. The pair's discussions about their gender - Faith is a male who prefers to be seen as female but is tenuous as to gender declaration - provide a very fine exploration about gender assignment and choice. Their friendship grows in importance. Jackie has been informed that he has only six weeks to live (terminal carcinoma) and decides to continue his life as a performing drag queen to fill his time, and while Faith advises him to contact his daughter about his diagnosis, Jackie declines. April, whose wedding is approaching, appears at one of Jackie's shows and the result provides a touching conclusion.

Derren Nesbitt is superb in this tough role, allowing us to appreciate his character's conflicts while performing some of the most hilarious stage jokes on film! Jordan Stephens, an established recording artist, offers a strong portrait as Faith. The two actors employ Jamie Patterson's story to offer a fine overview of how to be themselves in a lifestyle few understand. The film is both an excellent LGBTQ+ story and an excellent, entertaining and touching experience.

I was lucky enough to catch this film at the BFI Flare LGBTQI+ film festival and despite being intrigued by the synopsis, I wasn't fully prepared for how moving a film I was in for. This is a mesmerising, heartwarming & wry tale of friendship, family, gender fluidity, life choices and much more - all wrapped up in a superbly shot and exquisitely balanced story. The local setting and framing of the reality, mundanity and beauty of the leads' existence really shines in the directing and camerawork with some of the shots literally taking my breath away on the cinema screen. One closeup of a hairy knee through fishnets actually bought me to tears. The witty and nuanced script is superb and lifted even higher by Nesbitt on blistering form as the ageing performer, with Jordan Stephens holding his own in the emotional scenes as his young ward. The whole cast really sinks its teeth into the tale and those moments are great, but at its core, this is a vehicle for Nesbitt to show why he should have had many more lead roles in his brilliant career and thanks to the director, Jamie Patterson, he finally gets that moment and runs with it. All in all this is a beautiful, timely, unique masterpiece which I can only hope gets the wide audience it deserves. Highly recommended!

There is a good idea behind the film and generally the lead 2 were likeable however it did have the feel of a TV movie in my opinion and the rest of the cast didn't seem to be on the same level. There were moments I was really buying into it but others where it was misfiring. With a few changes from the writers and an increased running time could certainly have been better then ending especially seemed rushed which is suprising given its short lengths and the powerful scenes that could potentially have been had at the weeding leading up to it and following. Still not a bad film but not enough to stand out for me.

I'm so pleased a Googled Derren Nesbitt last night. How we.

Then the second half becomes a sentimental mess with Jackie finding a path back to his estranged daughter. This is where the story becomes predictable.

Otherwise the relationship between the characters 'Jackie' & 'Faith' keep the plot going at an entertaining pace. There are no 'heavy social issues' tossed upon you - the viewer.

It's just a story of an elderly man dealing with his career & health and its effect upon family and new found friend.