Stage Mother

I expected another campy, silly movie with no depth, but I was very pleasantly surprised. I laughed, I cried. Jacki Weaver's depiction of a mother who regrets missing the opportunity to love her son while he was alive has full emotional depth. She moved me to tears in one sentence several times during this movie. The cast dynamics are on point, and the supporting characters' plotlines were fleshed out enough to round out the film. There are soooo many movies in this genre, but Stage Mother is definitely a stand-out.

A conservative Baptist mother (Jackie Weaver) travels from Texas to San Francisco for her drag queen son’s funeral. Once there, she discovers that he owned the club where he performed. There’s the inevitable change of heart, as she quickly embraces his lover (Adrian Grenier), his best friend (Lucy Liu) and the queens who work at the bar (my favorite drag name was Tequila Mockingbird). Even though the characters aren’t especially unique (except for Liu’s fun slutty mom), some of the dialogue is genuinely funny. What makes it most entertaining is Weaver’s sassy Texas delivery and endearing pluck. There are several transitions or conflicts that are too quickly resolved, which makes the drama seem a bit facile and most of the drag numbers aren’t special. Still, it’s a feel good film that enjoyably preaches that classic message of love and acceptance.