User reviews

A heart felt story of acceptance and family in a world where being different shouldn't be judged but celebrated.Yet another excellent performance by Jackie Weaver who threads her life of regret for the relationship lost with her son in this diva musical world where more lives in layers the closer you look.

A heartwarming story with friendship, love, truth, sadness, heartbreak, finding yourself. A reminder not understanding someone or how they choose to live their life, shouldn't keep you from those you love. Learn and grow. Filmed in beautiful Halifax, NS, Canada.

Although it's not the most moving film you'll ever see, Stage Mother is a wonderfully heartfelt story about the importance of family, in whatever guise it may be. With elegant music, pleasant performances and good humour, it's a movie that really made me smile.

The best place to start with Stage Mother has to be its screenplay. As a pure drama, the film may lack real, challenging depth, but its genuine and wholly heartfelt approach to storytelling makes it an utter joy to watch.

A touching tale of a woman finding new purpose in life as she changes her opinions on her estranged son's lifestyle, the film really blossoms as we see her form an intimate bond with the performers of a struggling but tight-knit drag club.

As a movie that aims to challenge negative perceptions of LGBT lifestyles, Stage Mother isn't the most eye-opening film, as the initially 'conservative' mother takes to her new surroundings awfully quickly, as do many of the other characters who are meant to embody intolerance.

What's more, the majority of the characters are a little one-dimensional, with Jacki Weaver's character in particular coming across as some sort of infallible saint, without the real dramatic conflict that could have made her so much more interesting.

That's a similar case with the supporting cast, though it never undermines the movie's immense heart, bolstered all the more by the cast's wonderful, family-like chemistry on screen.

In that, Stage Mother has all the ingredients of a movie to really make you smile. Sure, it may not be the most cerebral story, but it is an undeniably joyful and heartfelt tale that's filled with elegance and passion throughout.

The movie delights with a wonderful soundtrack the blends jukebox hits with original songs, and although the story does take a little too long to properly wind down in the final act, it all comes to a close with a soaring musical finale.

Overall, I really liked Stage Mother. As I've said, it's far from the most thematically challenging movie ever made, but it is surely one of the most heartfelt and joyful films I've seen in quite a while.

This is a beautiful film. The story is very beautiful, and is sure to touch your hearts. The visuals are good as well. I enjoyed it a lot.

My Review - Stage Mother My Rating 6.5

It's great to review a new movie and to see Jackie Weaver in a starring role what an accomplished actress she is. Cast as Maybeline Metcalf a conservative church choir director who inherits her late son Rickey's San Francisco drag club. Maybeline travels to San Francisco for her son's funeral against her homophobic husbands wishes and picks up the threads of Ricky's last days including meeting his partner Nathan. Stage Mother is very entertaining what it lacks in script it makes up with some very good performances. I especially liked Lucy Liu as Sienna Rickie's best friend who Maybeline moves in for her stay and I also liked Adrian Grenier as Nathan who at first is hostile to Ricky'S mother accusing her of abandoning and rejecting her son then as a mutual understanding occurs between them he realised that Mother like Son is a good force to be reckoned with. This film directed by Thom Fitzgerald has had some undeserving negative reviews. It's well worth a look and has a good positive message to tell . It's not Pricilla Queen of the Desert and it doesn't try to be . The Drag Club scenes are very good and the scenes where Maybeline works her magic to coach the Queens to sing and make the Ricky'S Club profitable again are the best , it's just a pity that there wasn't more substance in the script. Jackie Weaver's final scene singing in her own voice was impressive.

Stage Mother (2020) -

This film had a story that we have definitely seen before, but that doesn't mean that it's not any good or worth telling again. It's actually very sweet, without going over the top and in that way it's also very simple.

When Texan Maybeline went to honour her son at his funeral after a long period of absence from his life, it was tough for everybody to get along and when it turned out that she had inherited his drag bar, things only got tougher, before they got better. So it's a story of coming to terms with things, finding a place in life and learning how to be a better member of society, whilst also putting on a good show.

Don't expect a big budget production. It's not exactly an A list film, but those that appear were generally very good, although a couple of them were clearly chosen purely for their looks alone. Bear was adorable, but not the best actor on the screen, whilst the gorgeous Lucy Liu played a very different character to what I've seen from her before and I really liked it. She instantly added something to the film from the moment she appeared.

Although it was such a simple tale, it was also very charming too and there was something kind of euphoric about it at times. I saw the effects that both worlds had on each other and it mostly resulted in positivity, leaving me with a warm and pleasant feeling inside.

It would be easy to see it as a blend of 'To Wong Foo, Thanks For Eveything, Julie Newmar (1995), and 'The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert' (1994), because of the themes that it covered alongside the obvious and it was always going to be compared to them as a film about drag queens anyway.

While this one is not going to sit quite so high up on my list of films to watch as those two, it will still get a good score, mostly for the fact that it was so easy to watch and enjoy. Sometimes it's nice to have the emotions toned down a little bit, as they are here.

740.09/1000.

I know this movie has its flaws and there are many. But if you love drag culture, this is worth a watch.

Jackie Weaver is a delight! And the queens are great too

This is my kind of movie; drag culture, good-hearted people, characters trying to be the best of themselves and lots of sparkles!!

Yes, the story might be a little simplistic and predictable, but so what? I didn't expect any twists from this type of film. What I expect is a bit corny, but touching story that makes me smile and makes me feel good afterwards. And this movie gave me THAT!

Jackie Weaver is brilliant as a Texan lady who has somewhat a timid exterior, yet has got balls when she needs them and I loved that performance. The tone of her voice when she is holding a gun is just fantastic. I believe women in southern states have strong cores like her character does. The conservative part, though, wasn't depicted very well, it just showed that she was Christian and sort of a leader of a choir in her church. Nonetheless, I did get that she loved her son so so so much. It ends up leading her to open up her heart to a new world and touch many people's hearts as well. Who wouldn't love that story!? In reality, people don't change so easily in a good way, but I do hope that all the close-minded people would change and everyone gets along. So isn't it nice to put that hope into a work and make a movie like this?

I also wish this film would help people who have lost in touch with their families get an idea to call them up before it becomes too late.

Don't overthink, just watch. You'll love this if you like a funny heartwarming movie.

Oh, I didn't recognize her at first with the trashy blonde look. I personally think Lucy Liu did a good job as a supporting role.

Had the pleasure of seeing this gem at the PSIFF with many of the cast. It was a joy. Laugh out loud funny, touching and heartfelt without hitting the too sweet button. The cast were super together, great chemistry between all. It was fun to see Lucy Lu in this light hearted role. But the star was Jackie Weaver. The writing was sharp and her delivery flawless. We are going back again to memorize some of the dialog. There are comments that are priceless and wisdom we can all use. There are no car chases, gun battles or other cheap tricks. This movie has heart and a message.

Is this a great movie? No. Did I hate it? No! Did I love it? Well, anytime I find a small film that can give me this much joy, it goes on my gotta share list. Hope you enjoy....

Saw the world premiere of this film at the Palm Springs International Film Fest this week and met the cast, director and writer. Fantastic movie with some of the funniest one liners I've ever heard. Audience gave the cast two standing ovations. All showings are sold out. However they do not have a distributor yet! We need to get this movie into theaters so please search for it so the data miners see the interest. This is a very relatable story of parents who reject their gay son and the lengths his mother goes to after he dies to make amends and understand him better. Jacki Weaver delivers a one liner like no one I've seen. It's poignant, funny, eccentric and uplifting.

Life is comprise with regretness but so how ? It's a very inspiring and beautiful movie to me. We only live once, live happily is most important.

I wanted to love this as I like drag acts and Jackie Weaver but it was terrible. Predictable and slow. Also why Adrien Grenier and not a gay actor? He wasn't bad but it just felt odd.

This was a beautifully made movie. With an equal mix of fun and sad parts. Jackie weaver plays the mother of a recently passed drag bar owner, who learns she now owns it and must get the place running top notch again. I've always been fascinated by drag culture. The creativeness of the names and the costumes. All the cast did wonderfully and they were fun to watch on stage and off of it. Altogether a sad at times but overall fun comedy drama.

Thanks to its well intentioned narrative that focuses on an old fashioned main character confronting their prejudices and making everyone's lives better with their inclusion, Stage Mother absolutely belongs in the 1990s. It's breezily entertaining and at its strongest when prioritising the core characters and their growing relationships but falters when its biggest moments rely on the most overdone tropes.

Jackie Weaver is so likeable from the very beginning and she balances the humour and heartbreak of her character gracefully, with some unexpected badassery too. The journey she goes on has been done so many times before but because she's endlessly charming that doesn't become a major issue. There's a solid supporting cast too with the highlight being Lucy Liu in a very extroverted role, giving her some big laughs.

Considering the amount of musical performances and the general vibrancy of its setting, Thom Fitzgerald's direction is surprisingly bland. Nothing stands out until the final song which does admittedly have an inventive idea behind it however even that's still slightly undermined by some dodgy editing and a blunt ending. It's still competent overall and the strong cast who are all loveable are enough to sustain it for 93 minutes.

Was fortunate enough to attend the world premiere at PSIFF, as well as attend a second screening the following evening. I found myself laughing, singing, clapping and crying along with the entire audience.

Jacki Weaver delivers an out of this world performance, as her character Maybelline evolves from a quiet housewife to an empowered STAGE MOTHER. Along the way, she touches the lives of many while coming to know and love her son for the man he was through the friends who loved him most.

I didn't expect this to work as well as it did. I'm not the biggest fan of Grenier nor Weaver, though I have a lot of respect for Weaver's work. And I'm not the drag scene's biggest fan, either. It's just....too much.

But beyond the somewhat forced folksiness in many of Weaver's dialogue lines, this movie persists with a certain level of honesty about trying to survive in one of the world's most expensive cities, while being a person struggling on the margins. Not only the financial margins, but the social, emotional and psychological margins as well.

Unfairly, Grenier's character is drawn as noticeably trivial and shallow. He's not given the best dialogue to work with, and his scenes just seem so...superfluous to the story. It's not his fault.

In contrast, Lucy Liu's character.as the disheveled urban adventureress is a fresh look at Liu that I don't think I've seen before. She executes it well.

I saw the film at the premiere in Palm Springs and was pleasantly surprised at how delightful the film is. The cast is wonderful, Jacki Weaver is probably at her best in this film and Lucy Liu is always fantastic. I was lucky enough to be at the premiere at the audience gave the film a standing ovation which it deserved. The film has fantastic music and the story is so touching and engaging. I highly recommend.

Really enjoyed this film from start to finish. Great story line, with an emotional pull. I can really relate to the relationships I have within my own family unit and those portrayed within this film so it really did touch many emotions for me.

"Stage Mother" is a comedy that capitalizes on the popularity of drag culture, but its handling of issues like drug addiction and physical abuse can feel superficial. The film begins with the tragic death of a drag queen at Pandora's Box, a struggling Castro District bar. Rickey, a drag queen, dies, and his estranged parents, Maybelline and Jeb, learn about his death. After losing the bar to Rickey, Maybelline decides to keep it alive by turning a trio of drag performers into singers, in memory of her son. The film's superficiality is mitigated by some sparkling performances. Brad Hennig's script for the film is predictable, with characters like Sienna's abusive date and Joan struggling with addiction being merely templates. Nathan, the main character, has only two moods: resentful or supportive, and Grenier's angry performance feels overdrawn. Sienna, a single mom trying to date, is portrayed as a bad comedian's punchline about San Francisco. The performances of Cherry (Mya Taylor) and Tequila (Oscar Moreno) are also disappointing. The story's direction is predictable, but the actors do their best with what they have been given. Weaver adapts her tough mama person to a level of Baptist nice, while Skordi sells the charming bit as well as he can.

The trio of performers, Joan, Tequila, and Cherry, may not be the best singers, but they work well together. Moreno and MacDonald share the spotlight at different times as the most out-going queens, and Taylor plays the shiest one of the three. Cherry is more soft-spoken but also dealing with her own set of problems as a trans woman, bringing a world of patience to the blow-ups around her. Despite Grenier's angry performance feeling more petulant than nuanced, Liu seems to have fun playing her irresponsible character, making herself look as messy and weary as possible. "Stage Mother" is a movie that focuses on a group of queer men and women who are helped by a straight white woman, Joan, under the guidance of cinematographer Tom Harting. The storyline is not as progressive as it could have been, with the cityscape of Halifax in Nova Scotia being a beacon of love and acceptance that contrasts with the decaying ideals of small-town USA. However, the film's message of unity and hope may have won over even the most cynical viewers. Fitzgerald, a pioneering gay filmmaker from Canada, ensures that his characters take center stage, with the film hitting the high notes when Joan, Cherry, and Tequila Mockingbird are on stage. The film hard-sells Maybelline's suitability for the task, as she has experience overseeing a stilted small-town choir and belting out show-tunes with her son in flashback. The trio blossoms from lip-syncing caricatures to impressive drag divas, with the power to draw a huge crowd.