A Kid Like Jake (2018)

A while back, Jim Parsons, Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, posted a trailer of A Kid Like Jake on Instagram. It looked interesting and the cast --the film also stars Claire Danes and Octavia Spencer-- really intrigued me so I checked it out.

It follows a Brooklyn couple, Alex Wheeler (Claire Danes) and her husband Greg (Jim Parsons), as they try to find the right primary school for their son, Jake (Leo James Davis). Finding the right school though will be the least of their problems as they realize that their son might be transgender and they are forced to rethink their roles as parents and spouses. 

While it does start in a promising way, the story eventually sinks into an ocean of nonsense and contradictions.  Not to mention the several subplots --Alex's pushy mother and one of Greg's clients (he is a therapist)-- that aren't developed as they should have and therefore don't have much of an impact on the main plot.

The characters are just as poorly developed as the story. Actually, they have no development whatsoever and very little characterization. Claire Danes is basically playing Carrie Matterson from Homeland again, and Jim Peterson is stuck with a paper-thin therapist. 

What's worst about A Kid Like Jake is that Jake is barely in the film. He is there but at the same time he isn't. Everyone talks about Jake but we never hear what he has to say. Everyone is discussing his fate but nobody cares about aking Jake what he wants or about his feelings. Everyone just assumes. Basically Jake is just an excuse for Alex and Greg to fight. He is still used to address a very important topic, unfortunately, that topic is handled in very a shallow, superficial way. Which is a tremendous shame because the film really had potential. 

IFC Films

The tone of A Kid Like Jake too is all wrong. Director Silas Howard keeps a quite light tone and avoids most of the drama and conflicts. The result is a film that is flat, dull and lifeless, and that ultimately doesn't deliver absolutely anything.