Actress-producer Trudie Styler makes her fiction feature directorial debut with this rather messy but sporadically entertaining teen comedy. Alex Lawther is terrific as young Billy Bloom, a gender-bending dandy and artistic spirit who is transferred from the protective, ebullient world of his larger-than-life, alcoholic mother (Bette Midler) to a more red-state traditional climate with his father (Larry Pine). Making no concessions to the Wrangler jeans and T-shirt look of his peers at a new school, Billy arrives every day dressed as if he had raided Lady Gaga’s closet. Billy is abused by girls and boys alike (some of the latter beat him so badly he ends up hospitalized in a coma), as well as by a hostile gym coach (John McEnroe). The narrative eventually gels around Billy’s unlikely friendship with his school’s football hero (Ian Nelson), who harbors his own secret interest in the arts (he wants to be a painter). But that relationship becomes strained when Billy decides to run for homecoming queen, which has less to do with being a diva than with being a symbol for other kids who are staying quiet about their own sexual identities. Freak Show would have benefited from tighter editing and focus (and it would have been nice to see more of Midler and a few other supporting players), but overall this is an engaging film with a solid message about tolerance and acceptance. A strong optional purchase. (T. Keogh)
Freak Show
Shout! Factory, 91 min., not rated, DVD: $16.99, Blu-ray: $22.99 Volume 33, Issue 5
Freak Show
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