Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

Synthesizing worthwhile messages of acceptance and self-discovery into a crowd-pleasing package, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie scores points for inclusion if not for subtlety or surprise.

This big-screen adaptation of the British stage musical about an aspiring teenage drag queen relies on the infectious energy of its lavish production numbers along with the charisma of standout newcomer Max Harwood. If it changes perceptions along the way, that’s a bonus.

Harwood plays Jamie, an effeminate Sheffield teenager targeted by bullies at school for being different. Still, he’s determined to follow his dreams of becoming a performer, with the full support of his divorced mother (Sarah Lancashire) and his best friend (Lauren Patel).

His goals are the stuff of daydreams until his 16th birthday, when Jamie is empowered by a pair of sequined ruby-red heels. He wears them to school, unafraid to issue a snappy retort to a critical classmate.

He’s further inspired by Hugo (Richard E. Grant), a former drag queen with a tragic past who owns a secondhand couture shop. The opportunity to become Jamie’s mentor reinvigorates him. “A boy in a dress is something to be laughed at,” he explains. “A drag queen is something to be feared.”

Some adolescents will no doubt identify with Jamie — it’s based on a true story, after all — even if it predictably bogs down in coming-of-age contrivances when the music stops.

Although the cast is different from the stage version, which is coming soon to the United States, the film retains original director Jonathan Butterell (in his feature debut) along with screenwriter Tom MacRae and songwriter Dan Gillespie Sells, whose pop-music score is consistently catchy.

Freeing the material from its stagebound roots, the film is an exuberant tale of individualism and self-expression that nevertheless tends to oversimplify those themes while relying on easily digestible montages rather than psychological context.

Credit some multicultural diversity in helping to define the periphery characters, even as the film is saddled with standard-issue intolerant villains, such as a hard-headed school adviser (Sharon Horgan) and a hopelessly disapproving father (Ralph Ineson).

Fortunately, Grant’s scene-stealing performance expertly blends humor and pathos, and his character’s anthem “This Was Me” adds a layer of bittersweet poignancy.

Shallow but sweet, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie takes on the same proudly flamboyant attitude as its title character, rewarding open-minded viewers regardless of age or geographic boundaries.

Rated PG-13, 116 minutes.