Any Day Now

Apparently inspired by a real-life story, this drama about a drag artist in 70’s LA, who ends up adopting his neighbour’s neglected child suffering from Down’s Syndrome, is as courageous, heart-warming and heart-rending as it gets.

Alan Cumming (in a career-defining role) plays Rudy Donatello, a drag performer who embarks on a romantic friendship with lawyer Paul Fliger (Garrett Dillahunt), a likable and tolerant man who has somewhat of a hard time hiding his homosexual tendencies from boss and colleagues. However, it’s thanks to Rudy’s positive, brash and witty persona that Paul slowly but surely loses paranoia and fear. For a little while, things begin to look almost peachy. That is until one day, Rudy has a chance encounter with Marco (Isaac Layva), the young son of his drug-addict next-door neighbour. But Marco is not your ordinary kid, for he suffers from Down’s Syndrome. When the mother gets busted for drug offences and Marco is lead away by social workers that don’t give a damn about his special needs, Rudy jumps to the rescue and decides to become the caring father (and mother!) that Marco never had. Reluctantly at first, but gradually giving in, Paul begins to accept the situation and when Rudy moves in with him, he takes Marco with him. Soon enough, the three seemingly live a happy and ordinary family life, though of course nothing is ordinary about the arrangement.

When Rudy and Paul embark on a legal battle to make Marco their adopted son and become his rightful parents, they get more than they bargained for… namely prejudice and a hard time from those around them. No matter how hard they try to convince authorities that Marco is in the best of hands with Rudy and Paul, the authorities won’t accept the fact that a homosexual couple (one of them being a drag queen) are fit to raise a child with special needs. As Paul, obviously acquainted with the loopholes of the legal system, battles it out in the courtroom by trying to turn the table, Rudy fights his way… It’s a no-win situation, with judges and lawyers more interested in the couples ‘scandalous’ lifestyle then in the well-being of a child that has come to accept the two men as his loving parents. Not wishing to give too much away, but we don’t get a happy end here. In fact, the end is a shock to the system – no pun intended.

Cumming and Dillahunt deliver their performances deftly and with great sensibility, but never clichéd, while Isaac Leyva is a true revelation.

Any Day Now is one of those rare little gems that touch on human rights issues without coming across as patronising or pointing the finger. Equally impressive is the typical 70’s look of the film – be it clothes, dodgy hairstyles, interior design and all-round colour scheme. And, while the look of the film is dated, the topic is not.