Film Review: “A Kid Like Jake”
Silas Howard’s story about parents struggling to raise their gender non-conforming child lacks heart
Over the past five years there has been a dramatic increase in queer cinema. The ones that quickly come to mind are “Carol”, “Tangerine”, “Moonlight” and this years “Call Me By Your Name”. Most of these showcase romances which offers a different side of the love story, expanding the definition of love. But that only covers the L, G, and (on rare occasions) B. What about the T?
“A Kid Like Jake” is the latest film that attempts to cover that ‘t’. It follows a couple (Claire Danes and Jim Parsons) living in Manhattan with their five-year-old son Jake. It’s New York City, so the public school systems are….to put it lightly, not the best. So when expressing her concern about the application process to priviate school Alex’s (Danes) friend tells her to highlight Jake’s “gender-inclusive play”.
At first it seems like a smart strategic way to go as schools only enroll around 20 students a year which would make Jake stick out. So Alex runs with the idea and Jake is invited to be interviewed for many schools, but then he interacts with other children and gets picked on for playing Princess. Jake’s actions, which started out as innocent child’s play, now has added pressure from his pending acceptance or denial to New York City’s elite private schools. But his actions also reflect on how he’s being raised to the academic boards and other (extremely wealthy) parents, which just adds even more pressure on his parents.
But Jake isn’t the main character of this film, he’s only a plot point. This film explores the topic of putting one’s child out into the real world for the first time without the protection of his house or parents. Will other kids like him? Will they tease him? Is he ready for the mean, depressing, exhilarating, demanding place called the world? It’s scary for parents to let go of their kid and smile while waving goodbye as they go on the school bus. If you’re not there, who’s going to protect him? Who’s going to love him? Then add the concept of gender fluidity and we have a decent idea for a 90 minute film.
But this film drags on. The movie focuses on Jake’s parents, Alex and Greg (Parsons), figuring out how to navigate this crazy pathway. In order for a film, that relies so much on the two leads to be successful, there needs to be instant chemistry and there isn’t here. Both Parsons and Danes are giving soild performances, but I never see them as a married couple. It never clicks for me. They do finally come together in the final act of the film (for that big scene that every one of these movies have) but it’s too much too late.
Director Silas Howard is smart though. The word transgender is never mentioned and Jake never has a temper tantrum saying he wants to be (or is) a girl. He just wants to be a Disney Princess for Halloween and wear skirts sometimes. Howard leaves everything vague and open to interpretation because it’s not really a transgender movie but a movie about parenthood (that could also fit into the LGBT category on Netflix). It’s about how parents shift from being parents to their own child to parents of a child they want to put out in the world. It’s about parents maybe starting a very scary, hard, and emotional journey. It’s about parents cracking under society’s standard on how to raise their kid because their kid, doesn’t fit in the mold perfectly.
On paper, this is a smart story that deserves be told but in the end it’s just boring. In this age we’re learning new terms, new ways to categorize and we’re learning to listen. Experts say that children are expressive about their gender idenity at an early age and parents need to listen to them but, what if they’re not expressive? What if the kid just likes to wear dresses? It could just be a phase or it’s not a phase, only time will tell. The important idea is that parents love their children and will love them and protect them forever no matter what. That’s their job: to love their kids, even if their child turns out to be something they never imagined their child would be (and that’s okay).
That shouldof (and couldof) made a great movie. This one however, is just missing the heart.
