If you only had 6 weeks to live, what would you do? If you don’t know, aren’t sure, or aren’t ready, this charmer is a terrific place to start.
Jack or Jackie (Derren Nesbitt) is a 75 year old pub drag queen of the most traditional foul mouthed and boozie kind. Married for 54 years his wife’s death came shortly after she discovered his furtive cross dressing. Whether it was just illness or an inability to forgive him for stretching out her wedding dress that killed her isn’t clear. But it did lead her to sever ties with him. By the time she dies he feels unwelcome at her funeral and unable to deal with his daughter’s anger at his supposed betrayal. He and his daughter seem destined to spend the rest of their lives apart until Jackie is diagnosed with cancer and given only 6 weeks to live. It is time to make decisions about what regrets should or should not be taken to the grave.
Just as Jackie seems landed with facing this grim deal alone along comes Faith (Jordan Stephens) a 21 year old who won’t be defined by what lies under the spandex “I’m not a guy, or a girl, I am an individual, I am Faith”. Faith is homeless and finds work in the pub with Jackie singing touching, autobiographical, lip sync free numbers. Jacki rescues Faith from living in a car and they bond over a transphobic attack that leaves them battered but unbeaten in the Emergency Room. Differences in age and sexuality are quickly overcome by a shared honesty about themselves and their circumstances.
This movie is not as focused on gender as it first appears. Sex and sexuality are used to strip the characters down to their most honest selves. In a short movie of about 75 minutes it quickly gets down to the heart of the matter, when faced with death what will we consign to regret and what will we give our last moments to change?
For Jackie there is a frivolous bucket list of to-dos. A night of coke, a lap dance from a pretty girl after not seeing a pair of breasts for 20 years, a tattoo of a lily for his daughter’s name. The awkward scenes reveal the essentials of his character, a man who misses his daughter. Faith partners with him in the adventures and by getting to know Jackie realizes what the real last ‘to do’ should be, a father daughter reunion.
Touching writing and direction from Jamie Patterson combined with cliché free, honest and charismatic performances from both the main characters make this movie worthwhile without being overly worthy. It is thoughtful and funny with a message about making moments that count. Neither Jackie or the movie lets a moment be wasted.
Review by Andrew HebdenQueerguru Correspondent Andrew Hebden is a MEDIA & CULTURAL STUDIES graduate spending his career between London, Beijing and NYC as an expert in media and social trends. As part of the expanding minimalist FIRE movement he recently returned to the UK and lives in Soho. He devotes as much time as possible to the movies, theatre and the gym. His favorite thing is to try something (anything) new every day.
